Biographical annals of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical and genealogical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the early settlers, Part 76

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 76

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

On Oct. 16, 1866, Mr. Wolf married Anna Hoff-

man. horn in Hessen, Germany, in December, 1845. daughter of Christian and Mary ( Kreigbaum) Hofi- man, who came from Germany to America in 1&17. and carried on a tailoring business in Lancaster. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wolf were: Anna M., who married J. Henry Gerhart ; Mary, who died at the age of four years : Wilhelmina, who married William L. Marshall, a clerk in the Farmer's Bank, in Lancaster; Henrietta, who died young ; Louisa, who died young; and Ella and Elizabeth, at home.

ELI L. KREIDER, a successful farmer of East Lampeter township, comes of a family which has been long established in Lancaster county.

Jacob Kreider, his grandfather, was born and reared in West Lampeter township. When a young man he purchased a farm near where our subject now lives, in East Lampeter township, and contin- tied to follow agricultural pursuits during his entire life. He married Miss Lizzie Denlinger, of Lan- caster county, and they were the parents of the foi- lowing children : Polly, the wife of John Buck- holier : Barbara, the wife of Joseph Frantz: Tobias. a farmer of West Lampeter; Jacob, a farmer of Leacock township : Lizzie, wife of Benjamin Landis ; Hettie, wife of Isaac Stoner: Annie, wife of John Landis, a preacher in the Old Mennonite Church; Abraham, the father of our subject : Catherine, wife of Benjamin Landis; and Isaac, a farmer of East Lampeter township.

Abraham Kreider was born in East Lampeter township, Aug. 5. 1821, and followed farming all his life on a place of which our subject now owns part. He died Feb. 20. 1800. On jan. 14, 1845, he was married to Elizabeth R., daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Landis. They had a family of eight children, one of whom died in infancy. The others are: Elizabeth, wife of Isaac Lefever ; Anna, wife of Jacob Bernheimer : Eli L., our subject ; Amanda, wife of Levi Weaver : Barbara, wife of Harry Den- linger : Mary, unmarried ; and Amos L., a resident of East Lampeter township. The parents were both members of the Old Mennonite Church.

Eli L. Kreider was born in East Lampeter town- ship. May 12. 1851, and lived at home until about 1887, since which time he has continued on the place § where he now resides. He has also conducted his father's farm. He owns a place of about twenty acres, on which he and his father have made ex- tensive improvements. Mr. Kreider is one of Lan- caster county's progressive men and most respected citizens.

HENRY TERRY, a retired and highly respect- ed farmer and citizen, was born Sept. 10, 1829, in his present home in Maytown, East Donegal town- ship, son of George W. and Elizabeth ( Haines) Terry, the former a native of Bucks county, Pa., and the latter of Maytown, Lancaster county.

George W. Terry, a shoemaker by trade, came

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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY

to Maytown a single man, was here married and here died in 1837. at the age of forty-three years, his widow surviving him until February, 1870, when

ried to Adam Kautz, farmer of East Donegal town- ship; Laura E., married to Wilson McMuilen, also a molder ; Virginia E., married to Charles Evans, 1 she passed away aged seventy-seven. They were | bricklaver, of Maytown; and Blanche C., married members of the Reformed church, and their remains ! to Albert Johns, a molder of the same town. were interred in the cemetery of that denomination at Maytown. The children born to George W. and ¡ Elizabeth Terry were four in number, and were as : follows: Anthony, who died at the age of forty- three years; George, also deceased: Elizabeth, who died unmarried when twenty-two years old; and Henry, whose name opens this sketch.

The paternal grandfather of Henry Terry was a farmer by calling and was of Scotch descent : the maternal grandparents. Henry and Elizabeth (Haines) Haines, were natives, respectively, of May- town and the lower part of Lancaster county.

Henry Terry, at the age of thirteen years, entered a tailoring establishment in Philadelphia, learned the tailor's trade, and at the age of eighteen went to ! Caledonia, Tenn., where he worked for a brother two years. He then went to Mills Point, next to Memphis, which latter city was his headquarters for a year and a half while he worked at his trade up and down the river. After an absence of two years Henry Terry returned to his home, and went on the road as a salesman, clearing about $1,800 for his employ- . ers in a year and a half, and with his own share of the earnings paid for his schooling at the high school in Maytown for two years. Later, he attended the Millersville State Normal School, in which he was a member of Page Literary Society. Of this So- ciety, in 1863, including Mr. Terry, 101 members formed a military company (under Captain J. P. Wickersham) and offered their services to the Na- tion for the protection of its flag and the preserva- tion of the Union, but the company was never mus- tered into the service, although for seven days it was stationed before Wrightsville, whence it was re- turned to Lancaster and dismissed. On his return from this little military duty, Mr. Terry taught school seven sessions, then engaged in the agricult- ural implement business for eleven and a half years, and then in farming in East Donegal township for fifteen years, retiring in 1894.

Henry Terry has been twice married, his first wedding having taken place in Manheim, in 1854, i to Caroline P. Arndt, to which union was born one child, Cyrus, who died in infancy. Mrs. Caroline P. (Arndt) Terry. a native of Manheim, Pa., was called away in 1856, at the age of twenty-two years. She was a daughter of George and Mary A. Arndt, who are among the most respected residents of Man- heim borough.

In December. 1864. in Mechanicsburg, Pa., Henry Terry, married Susan E. Deemy, a record of whose antecedents will be given later on. To this happy union have been born six children, in the following order : Ion E., druggist at Millville, N. J., and mar- ried to Sally Trover ; Hiester C., married to Tenah Harmon, a molder of Maytown, Pa .; Edith T., mar-

Mrs. Susan E. (Deemy) Terry was born in Cum- berland county, Pa., Feb. 10, 1841, and is the seventh of the eight children born to Jacob and Mary ( Page ) Deemy, of Dauphin county. Pa., where they resided many years, and whence they removed to Cumber- land county, where the father died in 1868, when seventy-four years of age, in the faith of the Luther- an church ; his wife had passed away in 1857, when fifty years old. The eight children alluded to as constituting the Deemy family were born in the fol- lowing order: Christ, William and Jane, deceased ; Emanuel. a physician of Mechanicsburg, and form- erly a surgeon in the army ; Daniel, a farmer in Kan- sas ; Samuel, deceased ; Susan E., now Mrs. H. Ter- ry ; and Martha, deceased wife of John Schaffer.

Politically Henry Terry is a Democrat. In re- ligion he is a member of the Reformed Church, was the first vice president of the Nevin Missionary So- ciety in Maytown, and is a remarkably moral and abstemious gentleman. He has never sworn an oath in his life, nor has he ever been under the influence of strong drink. He is extraordinarily spry for his years, and his chirography is both elegant and free from nervousness.

SAMUEL ESHLEMAN. Among the old, hon- ored and substantial families of Lancaster county, none are held in higher esteem than that of Eshle- man, and one of its worthy representatives was Sam- uel Eshleman, of Strasburg township, who entered into rest Jan. 2, 1902, aged seventy-one years, two months and twenty-nine days.

Samuel Eshleman was born on a farm adjoin- ing the one upon which he died. Oct. 3, 1830, son of Jacob and Barbara ( Miller ) Eshleman, both of whom were highly regarded in that locality. Sam- uel grew up on the farm and attended the common schools, remaining at home until the age of twenty- one, when he began agricultural operations on his own account, on the place he last occupied as a home. When he first took charge of this property, the farm consisted of seventy-two acres, but with the ad- ditions he was afterward able to make it now com- prises 103 acres. Mr. Eshleman owned other de- sirable property, consisting of a farm of seventy- one acres which adjoins the home farm, and another of sixty-two acres, located in Providence township. In addition he owns several tracts of timber land in Providence and Martic townships, ranging from four to eighteen acres, and a farm of forty-two acres in Strasburg and one of twenty-one, which adjoins the farm, east of the homestead.

Mr. Eshleman devoted almost his entire time to his farming interests, operating the homestead and the adjoining farm, carrying on a general line and also raising considerable stock. Some years ago,

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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY

Mr. Eshleman took a rest from active labors, but later resumed operations. Through life he was in- dustrious and made a success of his business, be- cause he paid such close attention to it, and his life was an excellent example of what can be accom- plished by one who has sufficient energy and de- termination, as most of Mr. Eshleman's property was acquired by his own efforts.

In IS70, Samuel Eshleman was married to Miss Annie Eshleman, a daughter of Elijah and Chris- tiann (Barr) Eshleman, and they became the par- ents of ten children : Enos [ .. born June 28. 1871, lives at home, and is the executor of his father's 1 tilda Stively: Edith Annie, born April 17, 1876, died Feb. 15, 1883: Mary Emma. born Oct. 24, 1877 ; Ellis Miller, born March S. 1879. died Jan. 2. 1883; John Henry, horn Aug. 19. 1880: infant son. de- ceased ; Clara Susan, born Jan. 15. 1884 : Anna Eliza- beth, born March 17, 1885: and Emlin Franklin, born on June 3. ISSO. Mrs. Eshleman is a valued and consistent member of the Reformed Mennonite Church, of which Mr. Eshleman was also a mem- ber, and in which he had been a deacon since 1888. The family is one of the most worthy and respected in this part of Strasburg township.

ISAAC BUCKWALTER. a well-known resi- dent of West Lampeter township, belongs to one of the old families of Lancaster county, being the fifth generation of the Buckwalters.

John Buckwalter, his father, was born on the old family homestend in East Lampeter township, about a half mile north of Greenland. in 1815, son of John Buckwalter. Sr .. also a resident of East Lampeter township. John Buckwalter was reared on the farm where he was born, and after his marriage located on a farm of seventy-nine acres in West Lampeter, two and a half miles southeast of Lancaster, what was known as the Yordy Farm, which he greatly improved, remodelling the house, and making the i place one of the most desirable in the township. Ail his life he was a farmer, and was known as a man who never sought, or would accept, a public office, much preferring the peaceful and happy life his fam- ily and friends afforded. John Buckwalter was mar- ried to Fannie Resh, daughter of Henry and Judith (Buckwalter) Reshi, who lived north of Bird-in- Hand. She was born in 1815, and died in 1884, her death and that of her husband occurring in the same week. They were both members of the Mennonite Church and were the parents of a family of seven children : Annie is the wife of Jonas Harnish, of Strasburg: Jacob lives in East Lampeter township ; Martha is the widow of Henry H. Herr, of New Providence : Judith is single: John died in April, 1900, when fifty years of age: Isaac; and Lizzie is unmarried. In 1872 Mr. Buckwalter retired from active life, and removed from the farm where he had passed so many industrious years to another prop- erty which he owned in the same township, where he

lived retired, and in due time died full of years and honor.

Isaac Buckwalter was born Aug. 31, 1854, on the farm where he is now living, and which he is engaged in cultivating. His education was secured in the public school, and when he was twenty-four he was married. At this time he began farming op- erations on his own account, taking charge of the farm where he is now living. His entire attention has been given to farming and dairying. For nine years he had a milk route in the city of Lancaster, his dairy being known as the "Crystal Springs Dairy." In 1899 he retired from the milk business,

estate ; Ira S., born April ;, 1873. married Miss Ma- | and is now giving his entire attention to the conduct of his farm, on which he has made some very valut- able improvements. Both as a man and a citizen the worth of Isaac Buckwalter is conceded. and he has been chosen to administer several large estates.

On Nov. 25, 1877, Isaac Buckwalter was mar- ried to Mary Stauffer, who was born in East Lam- peter township in 1859, daughter of Benjamin and Annie ( Kreider) Stauffer, and who died in the spring of 188t, at the early age of twenty-two years, leaving two children. Benjamin S. and Fannic. Ben- jamin S., who married Cora Seabolt, and has one child, Paul, lives in West Lampeter township; Fan- nie died in infancy.

On Nov. 22. 1884, Isaac Buckwalter was mar- ried to Annie Kreider, daughter of Benjamin and Lizzie ( Good) Kreider. To this union have come five children : John K .. Elias K., Mary K .. Annie K. and Lizzie K. All the Buckwalters belong to the Old Mennonite Church, and are reckoned among the most substantial people of this section of the county.

DAVID LEFEVER. Among the old and high- ly respected families of East Lampeter township, is that of Lefever, whose numerous descendants have scattered over many parts of the Union, and with the name have established reputations for thrift, hon- esty and uprightness of life. David Lefever. a much esteemed farmer of this township. was born in East Lampeter township. Oct. 15, 1824. son of John and Magdalena ( Neff) Lefever, and grandson of John and Betsey ( Howry) Lefever.

To John and Betsey ( Howry) Lefever were born four children: Daniel, who married Barbara Neff; George, who married Barbara Denlinger : John : and one child, who died in youth.

John Lefever, the father of the subject of this biography, was born Feb. 27, 1792, and died in 1856. He married Magdalena Neff, who was born Nov. 19, 1797, and who died in 1831. Their children were: Susanna, born Jan. II, ISI9, is the widow of Henry Kreider, and lives in Illinois : Henry, born April 7, 1820, died April 6, 1900, leaving his widow, Charlotte (Blair) Lefever, a resident of Sterling, Ill., where he was engaged as a merchant, miller, dealer in lumber, etc. : Daniel, born June 19, 1821, married Frances Martin (deceased), and died April 3, 1898: John, born Jan. 26, 1823, married Mary

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J. W. Woolworth

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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY

Douer and lives retired, in Millport ; David; Jacob, born Dec. 19, 1826. married Annie Kreider, and is a retired farmer, of East Lampeter township : Bar- bara, born July 25, 1829, first married Benjamin Diffenbach, and is now the widow of Levi Howard ; George N., born July 25, 1829, a twin brother of Barbara, married Annie Landis, and resides in West Lampeter township.

This family has a very remarkable record of longevity, the first death in the family circle of chil- dren being that of Daniel, on April 3, 1898, on which date the youngest in the family had reached the age of seventy. The parents of these children reared them in the religious atmosphere of the Old Mennonite Church, of which they were consistent members, and they rest in the cemetery connected with the Mel- linger Church.

David Lefever was reared on the farm and was but seven years of age when his kind mother was removed by death. Until he was nineteen years old. he was able occasionally to attend school some six- teen or seventeen days in a term. if the threshing or corn planting did not have to be done, and as he was a studious lad, made all the progress he could. The school house at Mellingers, he remembers as being equipped with slab scats and the light admitted through windows of four or five panes of glass, 6x8, and all of the other surroundings were of a similar nature. However, in making any compari- son with the superior advantages afforded the chil- dren of to-day, we should pause and question whether the probabilities are that the latter will fit for the battle of life any class of citizens more likely to adorn every station of life, than those who obtained their desultory education under such adverse circum- stances.

At the age of twenty-one, David Lefever was married to Eliza Buchwalter, a daughter of Martin Buchwalter, and at once began housekeeping, rent- ing a farm belonging to his wife's grandfather. John Buchwalter. For the succeeding three years he op- erated this farm, but in 1848 purchased a farm in Bareville. It required much good management and economy 'to pay off the indebtediness on this place, but his energy and industry were untiring and he soon had improvements under way and was pros- pering, when he had the misfortune to lose his barn by fire. This he replaced by a better one and later sold this farm to advantage, buying his present most desirable farm in 1880, and taking possession of it in 188I. This is one of the model farms of the coun- ty, all of the improvements being of the most sub- stantial and modern character, and all of the sur- roundings indicating the thrift and prosperity which prevails.

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lefever, were: Sarah: Martin, who was given an excellent education and taught school for several terms ; Amos ; twins, both of whom died : David, a student of Annville College, who taught school for ten years and is now publisher of a newspaper at Ephrata ;

Eliza, the twin of David, born Jan. 5, 1855; Elias, who is a Baptist clergyman, in Ephrata; Martha, a deceased twin sister of the latter ; John; and Emma. The beloved mother of this family died Sept. 10, 1894, having been a devoted Christian, a member of the Old Mennonite faith, a kind neighbor and a woman of the most exemplary character. David Lefever is also a consistent member of the Old Men- nonite Church, and is a man who possesses the re- spect of the community in which he has lived so long. His influence is always given in the direction of ed- ucation, charity and temperance.

F. W. WOOLWORTH, the millionaire owner of seventy-five Ten Cent Stores, all east of Pittsburg, and who has erected the finest business block in Lan- caster, and one of the finest in the State, practically began his business life in that city, as it was there he achieved his first pronounced success. The store which he established here june 21, 1870, was a small affair I4x35 feet, at No. 170 North Queen street, but it was a success from the moment he opened its doors. In recognition of the encourage- ment which the Lancaster people had given him at the beginning of his career, Mr. Woolworth put up the magnificent structure on North Queen street, known as the Woolworth Building, which was opened to the public just before the Christmas holi- days of 1900. This gentleman is regarded as a Lan- castrian, not only by adoption, but by feeling, sym- pathy and loyalty. Although modest and unassum- ing to a marked degree, there is that about him which indicates the strength of purpose and execution of a giant. In the New York Tribune, Jan. 6, 1901, ap- peared a half-page article, accompanied by pictures of himself, his Lancaster building, and his palatial residence at Fifth Avenue and Soth street, New York City, of which F. W. Woolworth was the sub- ject. From this lengthy and interesting article the substance of the following paragraphs is taken :

"In the old Stewart building, on the corner ci Broadway and Chambers street, New York, a ca- pacious suite of rooms is occupied as the headquar- ters of the Woolworth stores. From this private office Mr. Woolworth keeps his hand upon the large commercial structure which he has reared. With the telephone he talks with his seventy-five managers whenever the occasion requires, hears their verba: reports and gives orders for their guidance. Each store has a local manager ; there is one man who does nothing but look after the various fixtures of the different properties ; two inspectors, who keep con- stantly on the move, and arrive when least expected : a financial manager ; five buyers of domestic goods. and two of foreign goods ; and a large force of office employes.

"Mr. Wociworth's buyers go abroad on business every year, and the population of several consider- able German towns is entirely occupied in filling his orders. This plan goes far to explain the large value received by the purchasers of the Woolworth goods.

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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LANCASTER COUNTY

Cash is paid, and there is no middle profit. Mr. Woolworth imports a larger tonnage of toys and tree ornaments than all other United States buyers put together, more than one-half the product of the world. In the holiday season he employs more than 5,000 people in this country, while in midsummer his employes may not number more than 1,800. His salary list last year exceeded half a million dollars."

F. W. Woolworth, the proprietor of the Wool- worth stores, is typical of the Americans who see the road to success through original ideas, who have the courage and pluck to follow that path. Still on the sunny side of fifty years, erect, clear-eyed and vigorous, direct of speech and manner, it is not diffi- cult to see in him the qualities that have made Ameri- can trade and commerce synonymous with enterprise and pluck the world over. Mr. Woolworth comes of an English and Irish stock, and was born in Rodman, Jefferson Co., N. Y., on his father's farm, April 13, 1852. He had ten years' schooling, walk- : ing two miles back and forth for it in the hard win- ter weather of that country, and in the summer help- ing his father on the farm. The elder Woolworth moved to Great Bend, N. Y .. in March, 1859, where he bought another farm. Here, the boy led the life of a farmer until he was twenty-one years old, in the meantime completing a thorough course at the Watertown Commercial College. This was done by the exercise of the strictest economy, young Wool- worth and his chum boarding themselves, while his mother not only made his clothes, but drove in the old mare from the farm ten miles away, every week, and brought them a basket of "board."

Following his graduation young Woolworth went to work in the dry-goods store of Augsbury & Moore, which became Moore & Smith, of Watertown, N. Y., who introduced a five cent counter where Wool- worth got the idea of a five cent store. For six years he remained at Watertown, displaying such business ability that his employers backed him with a small line of credit for the establishment of a store in Utica. This was in February, 1879, and the enterprise was practically a failure. . Undaunted and undiscouraged his former employers extended the credit of Mr. Woolworth, and he came to Lancaster. Pa .. to open a store near the corner of North Queen and Chestnut streets. This was a success, and from it Mr. Wool- worth has gone on to a brilliant career.

Mr. Woolworth was married June 11, 1876, to Miss Jennie Creighton, then of Watertown, N. Y., her father, Thomas Creighton, being a farmer of Picton, Ontario, Canada. This union was blessed with the birth of three children, Helena, Edna and Jessie, the latter still at school. They all display marked musical talent, and enjoy the best oppor- tunities of the great metropolis.

EDWARD J. KNOX, who is now a retired farm- er at Christiana, where he has in former days ably filled the position of justice of the peace, is one of the prominent citizens of this part of Lancaster coun-

ty, and sustains a well-earned reputation for ability and character. Mr. Knox was born in Leacock town- ship, this county, Dec. 20, 1844, son of David S. and Anna ( Jacobs) Knox, also natives of that town- ship.

David S. Knox, who was a prominent and wealthy farmer, began life with nothing to help him but his strong arm and good clear mind, and he left at his death an estate of over $60,000. His later years were spent in Salisbury township, where he lived retired from business cares and activities, and where he passed away Dec. 8. 1898, at the age of seventy-nine. His wife. Anna Jacobs, died in 1888. at the age of sixty-seven, and both were buried in Bellevue Cem- etery at Gap, Pa. They were members of the Pres- byterian Church. To them were born the following children: Edward J., whose name appears at the opening of this article : Robert N., a drover and cat- tle dealer at Gap ; Martha A., on the old home farm in Salisbury township: John D., a farmer in Sads- bury township ; Eva M., married to Harry Reeser, a farmer in Chester county; and Clara, who died young.

The paternal grandparents of Edward J. Knox were Robert and Martha ( Sterling) Knox, farming people of Leacock township, where they spent their lives. His maternal grandfather was Edward Jacobs, . also a farmer of Leacock township.

Edward J. Knox remained with his parents until he was twenty-one, when he took charge of one of his father's farms, which he carried on for six years before he was married. After that event he continued to live on this place for a few years, and then set- tled on another farm in Sadsbury township. After a time he purchased a farm in that township. on which he made his home until 1900, when he gave up active work and located in Christiana, where he lives retired. Shortly before his removal to his pres- ent quarters he was elected justice of the peace at his home in Sadsbury township, for a term of five years.

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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 76

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