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 15
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"In 1862-63 I was superintendent of the Sunday School in our church, and have served as superintendent and assistant at different times. On Sunday, April 14, 1861, I organized the Infant Sunday School in our Chestnut Street Church, which bears the honor of being one of the oldest in the entire church. While residing at Lewisburg, Pa., between 1868 and 1872, under the administration of Rev. Mr. Bowersox, in the Evangelical Church, I was the first layman elected Sunday School superintendent in that Church before the minister, and always had the school in charge. I likewise organized the first Infant Sunday School of the Lewisburg church, which re- ceived, I am sure, appreciative approval. In January, 1883, I was chosen trustee of the Emanuel Evangelical Church, Lebanon.
"In October, 1889, after the decision of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- vania, as to the Esherites and Dubbsites, I was elected a lay delegate from the Evangelical Church, Chestnut street, Lebanon, Pa., to meet with the ministers of the East Pennsylvania Conference, which convened at Reading, October 10, 1894. Unexpectedly I was made vice-president of the convention, and was elected one of the lay delegates to the General Conference which met in Grace Church, Naperville, Ill., November 29, 1894. I served the General Conference on the committee on Sunday-school Organization, and was made a member of the committee to aid in organizing a charitable society for dis- abled ministers and their wives, and the children, widows and orphans of the United Evangelical Church. I served in the home church in other offices, such as superintendent and trustee, class leader, steward and treasurer of the Sunday School for a number of years; and treasurer of the church in general before the trustees held that office. In 1897 I withdrew my member- ship from the First United Evangelical Church, and joined with St. Paul's, on North Eighth street, of the same denomination. When the new church was built in 1899-1900, I was elected a member of the Committee on Finance, and acted as secretary.
"In Lebanon, in 1856, I cast my first vote for president, John C. Fre- mont being the man of my choice, for which I have never had occasion to be sorry. In the year 1865, I was elected a member of the school board from
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the East ward, and was made president of that body-an honor that will ever be held in dear remembrance. In February, 1891, I was elected a mem- ber of the common council from the First ward, and used my best endeavors to render a faithful performance of duty in behalf of the best interests of the city of Lebanon.
"In 1875 I was appointed a member of the board of health from the First district of the Borough. The high testimonial accorded the board by a grateful community for the fine sanitary condition of the Borough proved an appreciative endorsement that the onerous duties of the board were well performed.
"In September, 1862, when the government called for the militia of Pennsylvania to defend the State against invasion, I enlisted as a private in Company A, Eleventh Pennsylvania Regiment, the first of the 25.000 Penn- sylvania defenders to cross the border and aid in saving Mcclellan's base of supplies at Hagerstown, just previous to one of the bloodiest battles of the war at Antietam-a never-to-be-forgotten event in my life that will ever re- main green on memory's tablet.
"In 1857 I built a house on East Cumberland street, adjoining Hersh- berger's furniture warerooms, where I resided until 1868. In the spring of that year I removed from Lebanon to Lewisburg, Pa., where I had purchased a fine property, which I sold in 1872, and returned to Lebanon. In 1876 I built a house at No. 728 Chestnut street, between Seventh and Eighth streets, my present home."
Dr. Wagner was not content with the education received in his student days, but as prosperity came to him continued to study and to keep abreast of the rapid progress of his profession. He attended the Philadelphia Dental College, from which he graduated in 1875. He made the first set of teeth on vulcanized rubber in Lebanon county.
In early life he connected himself with a dental society, becoming a member of the Susquehanna Dentist Association. He was one of the organizers of a society called the Central Pennsylvania Dental Association, which in later years became the Lebanon Valley Dental Society, of which he has been an active member ever since, frequently contributing papers of interest at its meetings, and which he has served as treasurer for a number of years. For many years he has been an active member of the Pennsyl- vania State Dental Society. At the session held in Wilkesbarre, Pa., he was nominated for president but declined to be a candidate.
On the evening of May 20, 1902, the members of the Lebanon Valley Dental Association tendered Dr. Wagner a banquet at the "Eagle Hotel"
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that proved to be a brilliant success, the members taking this method of showing their high esteem for him. Many of the members were accompanied by their wives, and daughters. The tables in the spacious dining hall were arranged in the form of a "Y", and with their spotless linen, silverware, dainty candelabra, and red carnations, produced an effect delightful to the artistic eye. Sociability reigned supreme, and formality was an unbidden guest. Dr. Wagner and his estimable wife occupied the post of honor at the extreme end of the table, and as the elegantly attired ladies and gentlemen gathered around the festive board, formality was laid aside, and good fellow- ship ruled the feast. The menu comprised the very best the market afforded, and no description could do it justice.
Dr. Wagner is a member of Lebanon Lodge No. 121, I. O. O. F., and other minor organizations. Both he and his wife are greatly interested in the Home for Widows and Single Women, at Lebanon, Mrs. Wagner being a member of the board of managers, and the Doctor giving efficient service on the advisory board. Today he is not only one of the foremost of the highly esteemed citizens of the city of Lebanon, but a grand old man, filled with noble lofty deeds, enjoying the sincere respect of the church he loves so well, and the entire community in which he has lived so long. The classic lines of the gifted Longfellow are indeed a fitting close to this biography :
Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.
CHRISTIAN BUCHER, Bishop of the German Baptist Brethren Church at Schaefferstown, was born November 4, 1833, on the old Bucher homestead in South Lebanon township, a son of Jacob and Veronica ( Bru- baker) Bucher, the former of whom was a farmer on the old Templeman farın, near Rexmont.
The grandfather of Bishop Bucher was Dr. Benedict Bucher (2), who died May 1, 1830, and he was a son of Dr. Benedict Bucher, who was born in Switzerland, Europe, in 1717, and died in 1787. The first Dr. Benedict Bucher settled on the present site of Denver Station, in Lancaster county, about 1759. Dr. Benedict Bucher (2) was the father of eleven children, seven of whom grew to maturity. Jacob Bucher, the father of Bishop Bucher, was born in 1807, married Veronica Brubaker in 1830, and died in 1871. Their eight children were: Lydia, Christian, Anna, Jacob, Susanna, Veronica, George and Elizabeth.
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Bishop Christian Bucher was reared on a farm, and obtained his edu- cation in the public schools. In 1858 he married Eliza Dohner, daughter of John and Katherine ( Smith) Dohner, of South Lebanon township, and seven children have been born to this union, namely: Mohler and Alice, twins, the former a resident of Heidelberg township, and the latter the wife of Jonas Brubaker, of South Lebanon township; Allen, a minister in the Ger- man Baptist Brethren Church, in South Annville township; Esther, the wife of Isaac Heagy, of Penryn, Lancaster county ; Clara, at home; Ada and Amy, twins, the former of whom married Monroe Keller, of Lime Rock Station, Lancaster county, and the latter at home.
Bishop Bucher's youth and young manhood were spent in farming and school teaching, the latter from the fall of 1853 to the spring of 1861. Later he did surveying and conveyancing. When he came to Heidelberg township he bought a farm of ninety acres of the executors of John Funk, deceased, and operated it for a few years, and then removed to Schaefferstown, where for several years he conducted a mercantile business. After this he went back to the farm in Heidelberg township for a few years, and in 1887 he retired from farming activities. In 1861 he was ordained a minister in the German Baptist Brethren Church, and in 1875 was chosen elder of Lebanon county, and served as the only one until 1897. Few men have shown more devotion in their calling than has Bishop Bucher. For more than forty years he has labored early and late, and he has his reward in the many accessions he has made to the church, in the good feeling he has everywhere cemented among the brethren, in the churches he has helped to organize and build, and in the honor, love and esteem in which he is universally held.
EDMUND ROBERTS UMBERGER, M. D. (deceased). One of the well known physicians and surgeons of Lebanon two decades ago, was the gentleman whose name appears above, and whose family is represented at the present day by Henry G. Umberger, head bookkeeper at the Lebanon Furnaces of the Pennsylvania Steel Company.
Dr. Edmund Roberts Umberger was a native of Lebanon county, born at Jonestown, June 16, 1837. His father, Dr. David Umberger, was a leading physician of Dauphin and Lebanon counties. He first practiced in Harrisburg, and then removed to a farm at Jonestown, where he intermingled farming with the practice of a physician. Later in life he removed to Linglestown, and died at Dauphin, Dauphin county. He married Juliet Roberts, a member of a prominent family of that name in Pittsburg, many members of which were noted physicians.
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Dr. Edmund R. Umberger was educated in the public schools, taught school for several years, studied medicine with his father and afterwards entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, where he gradu- ated in 1861. The following year he enlisted in the army as assistant surgeon of the Ninety-third Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, which was made 11p chiefly of companies from Dauphin and Lebanon counties. On October 14, 1863, he was promoted to the full surgeoncy with the rank of Major, in which capacity he served until the end of the war. Returning home he immediately entered upon the practice of his profession at Lebanon, meeting with great success, and building up a large practice, which extended beyond the boundaries of his home county. His death occurred December IO. 1882.
Dr. Umberger was married February 15. 1876. to Ellen Good, who was born in Lebanon, the daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Good. The father was a native of Rehrersburg. Pa., and the mother of Fredericksburg. To Dr. Umberger were born the following children: Edmund Roberts, born in 1876, deceased in 1877: Henry Good, born June 6, 1878; and John Roberts, born August 8, 1882, is an electrician. The different members of the family are honored representatives of Lebanon society, and as such receive the kindly wishes of a large circle of acquaintances.
HENRY GOOD UMBERGER graduated from the Lebanon high school in 1894. After spending several months clerking in a store, he entered the office of the East Lebanon Iron Company. H. H. Light, president, as office boy and worked his way up to the position of bookkeeper. In 1900 he entered the offices of the Lebanon Furnaces, where he is at present head bookkeeper. He is an active worker in the St. John's Reformed Church, of Lebanon, in which he is serving as deacon.
TITUS T. WORTH (deceased). One of the most prominent and distinguished of Lebanon county's citizens was the late Titus T. Worth, a descendant of one of Pennsylvania's oldest families. He was born at Union- ville, Chester county, July 13, 1823, a son of Benjamin and Phoebe (Taylor) Worth, the former of whom was born in Chester county. August 5, 1789, and died June 17, 1831. Mr. Worth was a grandson of John and Mary (Bentley) Worth, the former of whom was born in Chester county, October IO, 1745, and died October 17, 1790.
In 1838 Titus T. Worth became a resident of the town of Westchester, where he attended the school of Anthony Bolman for two years, and then began an apprenticeship at the printer's trade in the same town in the office
J.J. North
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of the Register and Examiner, of which Joseph Painter was the proprietor. In this office Bayard Taylor, ex-Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, Paxson, and ex-Judge William Butler, of Westchester, were also serving apprenticeships. All of this coterie became distinguished men, and the friendships then formed lasted through life. In 1844 Mr. Worth removed to Lebanon, and, in part- nership with Hiram Brower, purchased the Lebanon Courier. Two years later Mr. Brower sold his interest to John W. Killinger, and this firm, under the name of T. T. Worth & Co., conducted the Courier until April I, 1855. Then Tobias Reinoehl, one of Lebanon's oldest and most highly honored citizens of to-day, succeeded to Mr. Killinger's interest in the paper, the firm name becoming Worth & Reinoell, and the business continuing thus until April 1, 1889, when the paper was sold to the present owners, Messrs. Rodearmel & Atkins.
Mr. Worth was prominent in social and business affairs in Lebanon city and county ; was one of the organizers of the Valley National Bank of Lebanon, and was its first vice-president, and later its president; was presi- dent of the Lebanon Gas Company ; president of the West End Chain Works; and a director and stockholder in many other enterprises. In politics he was an original Republican, and ever a power in Lebanon county, although, like his old friend, Bayard Taylor, he believed that the editor of a great newspaper should not accept public office, and repeatedly declined offers of high positions from his party. Had he consented he might have been a member of either the House or Senate at Washington. Upon pressure he did, however, accept the office of State printer of Pennsylvania, a position which he filled with credit, but which he soon resigned, as it was not congenial to him. When his friend, Secretary of War Simon Cameron, proffered Mr. Worth the position of paymaster, with the rank of major, in the United States army, it was accepted, and his commission sent him, but his second thought induced him to decline it. A man of rare executive ability he was naturally a leader of men, and an editorial writer of exceptional ability. His Quaker ancestry was ever prominent in his strict honesty and unswerving integrity. He died March 13, 1892, at his home in Lebanon, after a short illness.
As stated, his friendship with his companions of the printing office continued through life. An incident may be related that throws a humorous light on the distinguished Mr. Taylor, and shows that in boyhood he was quite as full of pranks as others of his age, who never attained fame. Even in his youth Mr. Worth was a fluent writer, and, like other youths. was prone to fall into verse. A love sonnet, which he had every reason to expect
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would meet with general approbation, was set up and was on the galley, ready for the press, but he had not counted on the mischief of his fellow printer's composition. When the gem appeared it had been changed by the versatile Taylor into a very humorous garble by the substitution of original ending lines. It was not until years after, upon a re-uniting of the old friends, that Mr. Worth discovered who had changed his verse.
On October 11, 1850, at Harrisburg, Pa., Mr. Worth was married to Mary Ellen Wiestling, daughter of Dr. Joshua M. Wiestling.
REV. CYRUS S. BOMBERGER. Rev. Cyrus S. Bomberger, the able and faithful minister of the German Baptist Church in Cornwall town- ship, Lebanon county, is a most excellent farmer, and a citizen of the highest personal character.
Rev. Bomberger was born August 25, 1839, on the family farm located in South Lebanon township. on the Schaefferstown road, some two miles from the city of Lebanon, a son of Joseph J. S. and Hannah (Kreider) Bomberger, and a grandson of Joseph Bomberger, whose wife was a Smith. Grandfather Bomberger was a successful farmer in South Lebanon township, and died when his grandson was a small child, leaving five children, as fol- lows: Joseph; Henry, who married Fannie Bachman ; Elizabeth, who mar- ried Philip Farmsler: Catherine, who married Joseph Light; and Polly, who married Abraham Riest.
Joseph Bomberger, the father of Rev. Cyrus, was born and reared in this county, engaging all his life in agricultural pursuits. He was a man whose influence was always directed in support of morality and temperance, and both he and wife were leading members of the United Brethren Church. Seven of their children grew to maturity, namely : Christian K., who is a retired farmer in Lebanon: Rev. Cyrus S., of Cornwall township; Aaron K., who resides in Lebanon; Joseph K., who resides in Harrisburg ; Levi K., who is a farmer of North Cornwall township; Mary, who is the wife of Michael Hostetter, of North Cornwall township; and William, who died at the age of fourteen years.
Rev. Cyrus S. Bomberger grew up on the home farm, and obtained his education in the common schools and at Millersville Normal School, and lo- cated on his present farm in 1867, following his marriage. This farm com- prises ninety acres of fine land, and is favorably situated three miles south- west of Lebanon, in North Cornwall township. Mr. Bomberger operated this farm in addition to attending to a wide ministerial field, until 1892, since which time it has been in the very capable hands of his son.
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In September, 1866, Mr. Bomberger was married to Miss Annie Yorty, daughter of Jacob Yorty, and she was born and reared on the farm which has always been her home. Two children were born to this union, Yorty and Cyrus J., the former of whom is the farmer on the home place. He mar- ried Miss Anna Brubaker, and they have two children, Howard and Mable. Cyrus J. resides in Harrisburg, and holds a position of fireman on the Pennsylvania R. R., and is unmarried.
Since 1875 Mr. Bomberger has been a worthy member of the German Baptist Brethren Church, and since 1878, a minister in the same. His earnest and faithful work has produced gratifying and encouraging returns, and he has been advanced to the second degree in the church ministerial polity, a much deserved recognition of his usefulness. Mr. Bomberger covers a wide field in his ministerial and pastoral work, officiating at South Ann- ville, Palmyra and Spring Creek, at Belle Grove and Conewago Meeting Houses, and besides these regular points answers demands from any other community where he is called. Mr. Bomberger is a convincing speaker, fully able to expound religious truth, while as a kind, sympathetic adviser and pastor, he holds a warm place in the hearts of his people.
WILLIAM H. HIBSHMAN. Jackson township, Lebanon county, is the home of many excellent farmers and highly esteemed citizens, and one of these is William H. Hibshman, now retired from active labor. Mr. Hibsh- man was born September 10, 1832, in Jackson township, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Lesher) Hibshman, the former of whom was a native of Lebanon county, and the latter of Lancaster county.
The founder of the family in America was Johann (or John) Gebhart Hibshman, a native of Switzerland who came to America in 1732, at the age of nineteen. Five years afterward he returned to his native land for his wife, returning with her to America September 24. 1737, in the ship "St. Andrew", which sailed on that date from Rotterdam, Holland. for New York. Upon landing in the New World, he located in Lancaster county, Pa., and purchased a tract of land four miles north of the borough of Ephrata. He and his wife had four children : Wendel, born in 1740, married Hannah Heffley, and settled at Ephrata; Henry settled in Lebanon county ; Catherine married an Albrecht, and lived in Selinsgrove, Pa., and Elizabeth married Conrad Mentzer.
Henry Hibshman, the grandfather of William H., was the first of the family to locate in Lebanon county. He married Catharine Leisey and be- came the father of three sons and five daughters : Henry, who had two sons,
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Samuel (who married Mattie Gibble, and had three sons and two daughters), and Daniel, and one daughter, Mary; Wendel, who had two sons and one daughter, Frank (married to Sarah Reiter), John (married to Sarah Bom- berger) and Lucetta (married to John Philip) ; Jacob, mentioned below; Maria, who married Adam Bassler; Elizabeth, who married John Lehman; Christina, who married Henry Creek; Eva, who married Daniel Weist; and Hannah, wife of Jacob Gockley. Henry Hibshman and wife are buried in the old Schaefferstown cemetery.
Jacob Hibshman of the above family was born as early as 1790, and he died in 1838. In 1812 he was married to Elizabeth Lesher, and they became the parents of nine children: (1) Catherine married Henry Mace, and had three children, living: John H., who married Amanda Yingst, and had ten children; Sarah, who married John Smaltz, and had two daughters and one son; and Amanda, who married William H. Hunsicker, and had no children. (2) Curtis married Rebecca Miller, and had no children. (3) Elizabeth died unmarried. (4) Henry married Elizabeth Spayd, and died May 16, 1880; she died in October, 1882. They had ten children: Henry W., of Tremont, Schuylkill county ; Jacob, of Strausstown; Samuel, of Philadelphia ; Anna, of Jackson township, Lebanon county; Rachel, of Shillington, Berks county; Lizzie, of Philadelphia; Catherine, who died unmarried at the age of twenty-seven; George and Sarah, who both died in infancy; and Christina, who died at the age of twenty-four. (5) Sarah married Christian Hostetter, and had two sons, one of whom died unmarried, and the other married but died without issue. (6) Mary (Polly) died unmarried. (7) Jacob married Henrietta Swope, and had seven children : William and John of Lebanon county; Frank and Augustus of Philadelphia; Amanda, who married and died in 1899; and Sarah and Elizabeth. (8) Lydia married Moses Becker, and had two children, a son and a daughter. (9) William H. is the only one of the family now living. Jacob Hibshman and his wife Elizabeth sleep their last sleep in the old cemetery at Schaefferstown.
William H. Hibshman was reared in Jackson township on his father's farm, now owned by John H. Krall, and in boyhood attended the public schools of the township and the Myerstown Academy, securing an education which gave him a certificate to teach school. This profession he followed for four years, and then began to farm. In 1848 he was united in marriage to Miss Sariah Loose, daughter of William and Leah (Bicknel) Loose, of Berks county, and one child was born to this union, Harrison W., who was married to Agnes Zinn, of Jackson township, lately deceased. The children
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born to this union were: Lillie. Mary, William H., Henry Z., Catherine, Howard, Clinton, Mabel, Bertha and Walter.
Mr. Hibshman during his early life found it necessary to practice economy and to be industrious, and he has had the natural reward, owning now a fine farm along the Lebanon and Dauphin pike road, between Lebanon and Myerstown, on the line of the Lebanon & Myerstown Street Railway, whither he came in 1873. This is one of the very productive farms of the locality, and on account of its location is very valuable. When a boy of seven- teen he learned the milling business with Peter Reist, of Annville, and fol- lowed it for some time, residing in Berks county from 1863 to 1873.
In politics Mr. Hibshman is a zealous and interested Republican, and he has most efficiently served his township in the office of tax collector. His connection with the Reformed Church has covered many years, and he has been deacon, trustee and elder. Although Mr. Hibshman is approaching the age when both mental and physical powers usually show signs of failure, such is not the fact in his case. His memory is excellent, and his rem- iniscences of old days in this section of the State are very interesting.
Mr. Hibshman has many friends, his exemplary life and high moral character giving him the respect and esteem of all who know him.
ABRAHAM S. HORST, one of the representative men and well known citizens of South Lebanon township, Lebanon county, was born in Heidel- berg township January 2, 1840, a son of Peter and Anna ( Schaeffer ) Horst, prominent people of this locality.
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