USA > Pennsylvania > Lebanon County > Biographical annals of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical sketches of prominent men and representative citizens and of the early settled families > Part 13
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On May 1, 1873, Mr. Shenk married Lydia, daughter of Daniel Stichter, one of the leading citizens of Lebanon, born in 1847, on the site of the present dry-goods store of C. & H. J. Shenk, on Cumberland street. Mrs. Shenk died June 10. 1883, leaving one daughter, Katherine Veronica, who died at Colo- rado Springs, Colo., August 8, 1901. She was educated in the Lebanon high school, finishing at Miss Cooper's School in New York City. Mr. Shenk was a thirty-second degree Mason, and a Mystic Shriner; also a member of the Royal Arcanum. Being a very prominent Republican, he has served his party
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upon numerous occasions, and has served in the city council as well as dele- gate to many County and State Conventions. He is treasurer and a trustee of the Wernersville Insane Asylum, appointed first by Gov. Hastings, and re- appointed by Gov. Stone. He is also a director of Good Samaritan Hospital, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Widows' Home, Lebanon. In every relation of life Mr. Shenk has demonstrated his ability to regulate vast affairs, and to lead to successful fruition mammoth financial enterprises, while as a public official, his record has been unblemished.
JOSEPH LONG KREIDER, a well-known retired farmer of Lebanon county, residing on the line separating South and North Annville townships, was born on his father's farm (now owned by Andrew Kreider) December 20, 1834, a son of Jacob and Mary (Long) Kreider. The father was born in South Lebanon township in 1812, and died in 1874. He married Mary Long, who was born on the old Long homestead in South Annville township (now owned by Mr. Kreider) in 1819, daughter of Joseph Long, and died in 1889. Joseph Long, the maternal grandfather, was a son of Christian (3), grandson of Christian (2), and great-grandson of Christian (1), who took up 400 acres of land from the Penns, which was then included in Lancaster county, later in Dauphin, and is now in South Annville township, Lebanon county, lying along the Berks and Dauphin turnpike.
The paternal grandparents of Joseph Kreider were Henry and Christiana (Wittemeyer) Kreider, the former of whom was born on the old Kreider homestead, located on Snitz Creek, now in North Cornwall township, Lebanon county, September 25, 1774, and died April 9, 1835. His wife was born August 3, 1807, daughter of Ludwig Wittemeyer, and died August 3, 1864. The great-grandfather Kreider was named Jacob, was born in Lancaster county, and was a descendant of four brothers of that name who emigrated from Europe (either Germany or Switzerland). He married and began housekeeping on Snitz creek, in North Cornwall, about three miles from the city of Lebanon, where he lived out his long life and reared a large family.
The children of Jacob Kreider and his wife Mary Long were as follows : Joseph L .; William L., of Palmyra, Lebanon county; Henry L., of Cleona, Lebanon county ; Abraham I .. , of the State of Washington ; Benjamin L., of Cleona, Lebanon county ; and Sarah, who married Adam Moyer, of Palmyra.
Joseph Long Kreider was reared upon his father's farm, and received a good common-school education, remaining at home until his marriage, when he began farming for himself on a farm on the Berks and Dauphin turnpike. In 1870 he removed to his present farm (the old Long homestead), which he
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continues to operate, although he does not make his home upon it, having erected a handsome home on the pike in 1893. His farm now comprises 110 acres, he having sold a portion of his property, on which part of Fairland now stands. Mr. Kreider has served most acceptably as school director of South Annville township. His religious connection is with the River Brethren Church.
On October 19, 1857, Mr. Kreider was married to Leah Moyer, born in North Annville township, Lebanon county, April 18, 1837, a daughter of John Moyer, also a native of North Annville township, Lebanon county, born in 1810, who died in 1867. He married Mary Royer, who was born near Ephrata, Lancaster Co., Pa., daughter of John and Elizabeth (Royer) Royer. Children were born to John and Mary Moyer as follows: Leah, who is Mrs. Kreider; Susan, married to Levi Hershey: Elizabeth, married to Jacob K. Kreider : Abraham; Israel; Samuel, deceased ; Harvey M. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Kreider is as follows: Annie Mary, born July 3, 1859, married Milton Light, of Swatara township, Lebanon county, and has four children- Alice, Kate, Harvey and Joseph; Amanda, born September 4, 1861, married Frank Bachman, of Cleona, Lebanon county, and has one child, Leah; Lydia, born October 17, 1862, married Daniel Bomberger, now of Kansas, and has four children, Mary, Alice, Ida and Maud; Elizabeth, born February II, 1864, married Penrose Hoffer, and has had six children, Annie, Harry, Sallie, Violet, George (deceased) and Christopher; Ellen, born September 17, 1866, married Reuben Bachman, of North Cornwall township, Lebanon county, and their only child, Homer, born March 3, 1899, died September 15, 1899; Emma, born January 8, 1871, married Martin Gingrich, and died with- out issue, May 22, 1899; Joseph, born January 9, 1878, married Fanny Weiss. of South Lebanon township. Lebanon county, and has two children, Rosa and Weiss.
SAMUEL RICKER, of Fredericksburg, is one of the most prominent men of Lebanon county, and probably the oldest justice of the county, having filled that position since 1880. As an educator, surveyor and conveyancer, he has long stood guard of the different interests of his section. He was born in Cumberland county, Pa., on the Walnut Bottom road, between Carlisle and Shippensburg, January 29. 1835, son of John Jacob and Susanna (Shaeffer) Ricker.
Mr. Ricker is of German extraction. On August 25, 1742, Johan Fried- rich Ricker landed at Philadelphia, having crossed the Atlantic from Rotter- dam (last touching at Cowes) on the brigantine "Mary," of which John
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Mason was master. From the best obtainable information, it is learned that he settled at what is now Hockersville, several miles south of Derry station, and twelve miles east of Harrisburg.
In the old Lutheran Church burying ground, at Hummelstown, Dauphin county, Pa., are the graves of Jacob Ricker (son of Johan Friedrich) and his wife Christina. The record on the tombstone says Jacob died March 19, 1802, aged eighty-two years, and that his wife, Christina, born in October, 1729, died October 13. 1794, aged sixty-five years. Jacob and Christina Ricker had two sons, John and Frederick, of whom the latter lived to a ripe old age, and died leaving no children, and was buried in the same burial grounds at Hummelstown.
John Ricker, son of Jacob, owned a farm several miles southwest of Hummelstown, on the Swatara creek, but did not make that section his per- manent home. He sold this farm and purchased 420 acres of land three miles west of Hummelstown, where he passed the remainder of his life. In 1815, after the Harrisburg turnpike was completed, he erected a large, commodious brick house, intended for a public house, which became a noted hostelry. As an innkeeper he won a State-wide reputation, and his hotel was noted for being supplied with the purest spring water in that section of the country, gushing delightfully from a three-inch spout. In farming he branched out extensively, and prospering in all his ventures, he amassed considerable wealth. In 1804 he helped to re-organize the Lutheran Church at Hummelstown, and continued an active and interested member until his death, June 20, 1849, aged ninety-three years. His remains rest in the same Lutheran cemetery mentioned above. His wife died twelve years previously and was laid to rest in the same cemetery. In her maidenhood she was Mary Magdalena Fish- burn, daughter of Philip C. Fishburn, and by her marriage with Mr. Ricker, became the mother of nine children, as follows: (1) Mary married Nicholas Plouse, and had two sons, David and John ; (2) Jolin Jacob is mentioned below ; (3) John married Hannah Orth, and had six children, Elizabeth, Catharine, Hannah, Maggie, Lavina and Sarah: (4) Frederick married Catharine Backen- stose, and had eleven children, Levi B., David, Alfred, Elizabeth, Catherine, Louisa M., Frederick A., Margaret H., Sarah Ann, Mary Jane and George T .; (5) Hannah married John Baughman, and had no children: (6) David married Hannah Abrims, and had two children, Samuel A. and John E .; (7) Catharine married Christian Hartzler, and had one son, Reuben T .; (8) Daniel married Mary Grate, and had one daughter, Mary Magdalena; and (g) Christina married Henry Geistwite, and had eight children : John, Will- iam, Joseph, Michael, Mary, Kate, Sallie and Hannah.
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John Jacob Ricker was born on his father's farm near Hummelstown, June 9, 1797. He was given careful training and assisted his father in the management of his farms and hotel, and gradually became familiar with both lines, which he later followed for himself. He became the lessee of a farm and hotel on the Walnut Bottom road between Carlisle and Shippensburg, but later removed to St. Thomas, Franklin county, ten miles west of Chambers- burg, where for nine years he operated a farm and tavern at the Pittsburg turnpike. During much of this time this turnpike was lined with teams haul- ing merchandise from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, and the tavern-keeper was a busy and prosperous member of the community. Mr. Ricker later returned to Dauphin county, but after fourteen years removed to Cumberland county, where he died in 1860. During his young manhood he married Susanna Shaeffer, who bore him fourteen children, seven of whom grew to maturity : John S., a tanner, who married a widow, Mrs. Dumy, and is deceased; Daniel, a farmer, now deceased, who married Martha Carbaugh; Richard, a farmer, also deceased, who married Mary Brindle ; Jacob, a hotel keeper, now deceased, who wedded Elizabeth Palmer; William H., a miller in Huntingdon county, who married Mary Imboden; Mary A., who became the wife of Jeremiah Hocker, and is deceased; and Samuel. Mr. Ricker was a progressive and well informed man, a man of influence in the several communities in which he made his abode. In business he was successful, and his word carried weight in public affairs.
Samuel Ricker was in his infancy when his parents moved from Cum- berland county to Franklin county, and but nine years old when they located in Dauphin county, where he grew to manhood. In the public schools of the various counties in which he lived he procured a good solid educa- tion, developing habits of order and correctness as well as thoroughness and investigation. His fund of knowledge and a taste for imparting it decided him to engage in teaching, and, settling in Fredericksburg, he there began his labors. From the start he won the confidence of both patrons and school boards, and he continued to follow this profession for about twenty years. He was alert, progressive, and did much to build up the schools with which he was connected. Throughout this period he was always a thorough stu- dent, and by 1870 he had acquired sufficient knowledge of surveying and conveyancing to warrant him in opening an office and engaging in these lines. His accuracy and prompt attention to his duties won him patrons, and he gradually worked up a large business in both lines. As a surveyor he has done much to develop the resources of Lebanon county. As a con-
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veyancer he has been entrusted with many important estates, acting as admin- istrator, trustee and executor.
In 1857 Mr. Ricker married Malinda Weller, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Peffley) Weller, who are now deceased. By this union there have been three children : Allen Ira, who died in childhood; Mary Susan, a graduate of Schuylkill Seminary; and Anna Rachel, at home.
Mr. Ricker is eminently a student gifted in various lines, and of con- siderable experience in a legal direction. In 1880 he was chosen justice of the peace, and through the merited esteem of the public he has continued in the office ever since. While serving the public in this capacity he has pursued a commendable course, making every possible effort to reconcile parties at variance, to save needless waste of time and money at law, to pre- vent the ill-will, enmity, hatred and bitter feelings which are so often the results of law suits. In connection with this office he does not neglect his surveying and conveyancing. In 1887 he was elected county surveyor of Lebanon county, in which capacity he served the public three years. He and his family are members of the United Evangelical Church. Sunday school work has for many years been his delight, and he is a supporter and advocate of the foreign mission cause, having a number of times in recent years headed the list and collected funds for the famine-stricken, starving and perishing of foreign lands. He advocates the temperance cause, and believes the most successful way to stem the tide of intemperance is for parents to instill the principles of temperance in the hearts and minds of their children, and picture to them the evils and harm of intemperance and the disgrace and suffering of inebriates. His first presidential vote was cast in 1856 for John C. Fremont, and he has since advocated and supported the principles of the Republican party. He was a charter member of Cedar Hill Cemetery Association, organized and incorporated in 1870, and has served as secretary at and since its organization. In 1870 he received the appoint- ment of census enumerator of Bethel and North Lebanon townships. Leba- non county. The duties of this appointment he promptly and efficiently discharged. He has always had the public welfare thoroughly at heart, and during Lee's invasion of the State, in the Civil war, enlisted June 18, 1863, in Company K, Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia. and was hon- orably discharged at the expiration of his term of service. Possessed of the highest ideals, and the force of character which is ever striving to attain them, he is a source of inspiration to those who know him, and a great factor for good in his community.
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
M. K. FRANTZ, son of Henry and Catharine (Kline) Frantz, was born in Tulpehocken township, Berks county, Pa., August 2, 1837, on the farm on which his father Henry, his grandfather Mathew, his great-grand- . father Christian, and his great-great-grandfather, Christian, Sr., lived and farmed. The deed for this tract of land was secured by Christian, Sr., in the year 1760, it being a patent deed granted by Thomas and John Penn, son and grandson of William Penn, the founder of the province of Pennsylvania. The deed has been handed from one generation to another, and is now in the possession of M. K. Frantz, the present owner of the land. About 1775, some fifteen years after the first title was obtained, Christian Frantz, Sr., devised the farm to his son, Christian, who about fifteen years later moved to Virginia.
Mathew Frantz, the grandfather of M. K. Frantz, was born on the old farm, and learned the potter's trade. Besides the attention he gave to the oper- ation of his farm he found time to manufacture crocks, which he sold not only to the people in Berks county but across the Blue mountains to the people in Schuylkill county. The clay from which they were manufactured is still found in abundance along Beaver Creek, which runs through the farm.
Henry Frantz, father of M. K. Frantz, was born in 1803, and lived until 1890, being over eighty-seven years old. He was born on the original tract of land, and there lived all his life, respected by all with whom he came in contact.
M. K. Frantz assisted his parents on the farm. In the early days of the common school system, the three or four months the school was kept open afforded only a limited amount of education to the farmer boys. In Mr. Frantz's case this was supplemented by a term of twelve weeks at the Myers- town Academy, conducted by Peter B. Witmer, after which at the age of seven- teen years he commenced teaching in the common schools, and for seven suc- cessive seasons he was teaching in Berks and Lebanon counties. In the year 1860 he ventured in the produce business, buying country produce and shipping it to Philadelphia and New York. In January, 1865, he also embarked in the mercantile business, and was continually in the produce and mercantile busi- ness until the year 1897, when his sons acquired the business that he for a period of thirty-seven years conducted successfully. His entire attention was then directed toward his farms and farming, until the spring of 1899, when he rented the farm and again went into the produce commission business, with headquarters at the Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia. He is enjoying a prosperous business, having shippers from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, who consign various kinds of country produce to be sold on commission.
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On January 3, 1857, Mr. Frantz was married to Isabella Walborn, daugh- ter of Peter D. and Lydia Walborn. Ten children were born to them, of whom two died in infancy, and Stanton H., at the age of twenty-seven years. Of the others, Permilla married H. S. Gockley ; Miss Emma is at home; Agnes married F. P. Miller, a prosperous baker and business man of Myerstown; Mary married Oliver K. Albright, of Reading, who is in the shoe business; Rebecca married Rev. A. F. Mace, a Reformed minister, now located at McClairsville, Bedford Co., Pa .; and Charles P. and Tilden H. are con- ducting the general merchandise and produce business at Myerstown, and a general produce and commission business in Philadelphia. The entire family are industrious, active and successful. All of them had educational advantages, and all were students at Palatinate College (now Albright Collegiate Insti- tute), at Myerstown.
HARRY H. LIGHT, one of the leading citizens and financiers of Leb- anon, was born in 1862, in that city, a son of Samuel L. and Maria E. (Henry) Light, who are mentioned elsewhere.
After completing the common school course and graduating from the Lebanon high school with credit, in 1881, he entered the Eastman Busi- ness College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and took a complete commercial course. This he put to practical advantage as a clerk in the grocery store of J. D. Kerr & Co., of Lebanon, with whom he remained from the latter part of 1882 11ntil 1885. Later he embarked in a retail coal business with a partner under the firm name of Scarlett & Light, and continued until 1887. He then became a member of the firm of Light Bros. & Co., in the coal, brick, ice and real estate business, remaining so connected until 1891. In that year he became one of the promoters of the East Lebanon Iron Company, of which he was made president and general manager, and remained in that dual capacity until the sale of the concern, on September 1, 1899, to the American Steel & Iron Manufacturing Company, of which he was made purchasing agent, a position he held with ability until he resigned in June, 1900. He was also promoter and manager of the East Lebanon Land Company, by which 200 acres of land were laid out in building lots between Lebanon and Avon. He is a member of the board of directors of the American Steel & Iron Manu- facturing Company.
In 1890 Mr. Light was one of the original incorporators of the Lebanon and Annville Trolley Company; was a director in the Lebanon Electric Light Company, from 1891 to 1897; and was one of the organizers and charter members of the Farmers National Bank, afterward resigning, and two years
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later becoming a director in the Lebanon Valley National Bank, of Lebanon. In company with Simon P. Light, he bought a controlling interest in the People's Telephone & Telegraph Company, which in 1901 they sold to the United Telephone & Telegraph Company, of which company he is also a director. Mr. Light was also a promoter of the United Power & Transporta- tion Company, of Philadelphia, in January, 1899; is the owner of the Heights Company, a large real estate concern ; and is a member of the board of man- agers of the Pennsylvania Chautauqua, at Mt. Gretna.
Mr. Light is a member of Mt. Lebanon Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and is also connected with the higher branches of Masonic circles, including the Com- mandery and Shrine. His religious membership is with Zion Lutheran Church. In politics he takes an independent stand.
In 1887 Mr. Light married Miss Emma L. Light, daughter of Daniel and Barbara (Sholley) Light, and they have five daughters: Vara K., B. Joyce, F. Marie, Pauline E., and Eloise H.
JOHN KREIDER BOMBERGER, one of the representative citizens of North Cornwall township, is a worthy member of one of the old and honored families of Lebanon county, the Bomberger family locating in Penn township, Lancaster county, as early as 1722.
Christian Bomberger, the founder of the family in Pennsylvania, with his wife, Maria. came from Eschelbrun, the lower Rhine district of the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, accompanied by their two sons. John and Chris- tian. The latter was a minister, and was the ancestor of the branch of the family from which came John K. Bomberger of West Cornwall township.
Jolin Bomberger, son of Christian, was the father of these children : Christian, John, Jacob. Abraham, Joseph, Daniel and Peter.
Abraham Bomberger, son of John, was the grandfather of John K. Bom- berger of Cornwall, and he, with his brother Christian, was the first of the family to locate in Lebanon county, settling about two miles south of the city of Lebanon, in North Cornwall township. Christian married Barbara Reist, but had no issue, and he died at the age of fifty-five years, leaving a large estate. Abraham farmed for some years in North Cornwall, but later moved to North Lebanon township, where he died. His marriage was to Annie Kreider, and one child was born to this union, Christian, the father of John K. Bomberger.
Christian Bomberger was born December 8, 1813, in what is now North Cornwall township, and was reared on the farm and educated in the local schools. He became one of the leading men and successful farmers of his
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locality, served acceptably on the school board and in other offices, and was a strong supporter of the Whig party in politics. He began farming on the land which his uncle Christian had formerly owned, and which had come into his possession, and here he lived until his accidental death, in 1858, in a stone quarry on his own land. His farming operations had been very successful, and he was widely known for his excellent methods and their satisfactory results. Christian Bomberger was a man of integrity and business honor, and was one of the organizers of the Lebanon Valley Bank, now known as the Valley National Bank, and was one of its first directors, being a member of its board at the time of his death. He was married, September 26, 1839, to Mary Kreider, born in North Lebanon township, in 1818, daughter of Tobias and Catherine Kreider, who died July 11, 1863, the mother of eight children, as follows : Jolin K .; Abraham, who died in Jackson township, Lebanon county, in 1900; Catherine, deceased, who was the wife of Josiah Kreider : Christian, who lives in Portland, Oregon; Mary, who is the wife of John S. Snavely, of Lebanon ; Anna, who is the wife of Levi Kreider, of Dickinson county, Kans .; and Tobias, and Daniel, who live in Annville.
John K. Bomberger was born November 11, 1840, the eldest son in his parents' family, and secured a good common school education. Mr. Bom- berger was but eighteen years of age when accident deprived him of his father, and caused him to assume heavy responsibilities. He took charge of the farm for his mother, and at her death he assumed full control, retaining the same until he moved to his own place in the spring of 1869. Here Mr. Bom- berger has a most productive farm of ninety acres, located three and one-half miles from Lebanon, West Cornwail township, where he has carried on general farming, and some stock and cattle raising. Mr. Bomberger has been a very active worker in the Prohibition party, for twelve years being chairman of Lebanon county, and for years a delegate to State conventions, becoming well and favorably known in the great cause all over the country. Mr. Bomberger is a man of original and intelligent ideas, and in every way has shown his sincere interest in all measures and movements promising to benefit his com- munity.
On March 8, 1864, Mr. Bomberger was married to Miss Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Horst) Smith, who was born February 18. 1843, and died June 25, 1877. A family of seven children was born to this union, as follows: John S., a farmer of South Lebanon township, married Selena Wilhelm and has one child, Verona; Elizabeth married Samuel S. Bowman, and has one child, Miles ; Mary married William S. Reist, of South Lebanon township, and has three children. John, Robert and Isaac; Sarah mar-
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