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 2
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GEN. JOHN PETER SHINDEL GOBIN. If. as has been written by one of the bards, "true history is biography," it follows that to chronicle the deeds and achievements of the successful and representative citizens of a community is but to write the history of that community. and the biographer becomes the true historian. Thus it will be seen that the importance of making permanent record of the lives of men who have contributed to the material
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
growth and development of a community, and have reflected credit and honor upon it, cannot be overestimated.
Lebanon county, Pa., counts among her citizens many who are well worthy of the distinction of receiving extended notice in any volume devoted to the annals of the county, and among all of them stands conspicuously Gen. John Peter Shindel Gobin, the present lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth, who by reason of his long and useful life, his brilliant military record, his distinguished career as a public official, and his sterling worth as a man, has won the admiration and esteem of all who know him, not only among his fellow citizens of Lebanon, but throughout the entire State.
Gen. Gobin is a native of Pennsylvania, having been born at Sunbury, Northumberland county, January 26, 1837, and comes of sturdy pioneer stock. His paternal ancestors were numbered among the soldiers of the Revolutionary and other wars of the country, while among his maternal ancestors were ministers of renown. Charles Gobin, his great-grandfather, was a captain in a battalion of Berks county associators, and served in the Jersey campaign in the war of the Revolution during the summer of 1780, and later was on the frontiers in command of a company of militia to protect the settlers from the threatened invasion of the Indians, Tories and British from New York. His grandfather, Edward Gobin, was a soldier of the war of 1812-14. On the maternal side, his grandfather, John Peter Shindel, for whom he was named, was a pioneer Lutheran minister, who resided in Lebanon at the beginning of the last century, removing to Sunbury, Pa., about the year 1812. His son, Rev. Jeremiah Shindel, a noted member of the Lutheran ministry, was born in Lebanon. Prior to studying for the ministry Rev. Jeremiah served an apprenticeship at the printer's trade in Harrisburg, where he had as fellow workmen the late distinguished Pennsylvanians, Simon Cameron and William and John Bigler. Later he prepared for the ministry, in 1830 was licensed to preach, and in 1831 was ordained. In 1859 he was elected to the State Senate of Pennsylvania from the district composed of Lehigh and Northampton counties, serving as senator for three years. In 1862 he was appointed chaplain of the One Hundred and Tenth Regiment, P. V. I., and served two years.
The parents of Gen. Gobin were Samuel S. and Susan (Shindel) Gobin, the former of whom was a large contractor. Gen. Gobin inherited the martial spirit of his paternal ancestors, and the scholarly characteristics of those on the maternal side. He received an academic education in the schools of his native town, and learned the printer's trade in the office of the Sunbury American. Later, under the preceptorship of M. L. Shindel and Gen. J. K.
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Clement, he studied law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1858. His early professional career, however, was interrupted by the breaking out of the Civil war, as, upon President Lincoln's first call for three months' men, he leit his law practice and entered the army, April 19, 1861, as first lieutenant of Company F. Eleventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. At the expira- tion of his term of enlistment he returned to his home, recruited a company, and on September 2, 1861, was commissioned captain of the same, which was mustered in as Company C, Forty-seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Vol- unteers. Promotion was rapid for this intrepid young soldier, and he was successively advanced to the ranks of major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel of the Forty-seventh Regiment, and was brevetted brigadier-general of vol- unteers for meritorious services on March 13, 1865, and complimented in general orders for gallantry at the battle of Pocotaligo, S. C. Besides the latter engagement he participated in those of St. John's Bluff, Sabine Cross Roads, Pleasant Hill and Cane River Crossing, serving in the departments of the South, the Gulf and the Shenandoah. Gen. Gobin was with Gen. Sheri- dan in his celebrated campaign, during a portion of the time commanding a brigade in the Nineteenth Corps, participating in the battles of Opequan and Fisher's Hill, and particularly distinguished himself at Cedar Creek, where his command was right of Sheridan's line. When a portion of the line gave way from the severe pressure of the enemy's front, which overlapped the Union force, Gen. Gobin held fast, and thus gave the enemy its first repulse, which proved the turning point in the tide of battle. For a time he was Judge Advocate General of the Department of the South, and remained with his regiment at Charleston, S. C., in command of the First sub-district, acting as Provost Judge of that city, until January, 1866. He was mustered out of the service on January 9th, of that year.
Immediately after leaving the army, Gen. Gobin located in Lebanon, and resumed the practice of his profession, and there he has since resided and fol- lowed the law, meeting with a success that has easily placed him at the head of the Lebanon County Bar. The public life of Gen. Gobin has been varied, and uniformly successful and distinguished. Early in his professional career he served for a time as county solicitor of Lebanon county, and this was fol- lowed, in 1884. by his election to the State Senate, in which body he served continuously from that year until 1899, an unprecedented term. resigning in the latter year to assume the duties of the office of lieutenant- governor of the State, to which position he had been elected at the general election of 1898. He has served as a trustee of the Soldiers' and Sailors'
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Home at Erie: as a commissioner of the Soldiers' Orphan Schools; and as commissioner of the Gettysburg Monumental Association. In 1874 he was commissioned colonel of the Eighth Regiment. National Guard of Pennsyl- vania, and since 1885 he has been brigadier-general of the Third Brigade of the Guard, and commanded in the numerous riots of the State. During the Spanish-American war he held a commission as brigadier-general of volunteers.
Gen. Gobin assisted in the organization of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic. and has had conferred upon him the highest honors of the organization, having been elected department commander in 1886, and commander-in-chief of the organization in the United States in 1897. He is an active member of the Loyal Legion, and of the Sons of the Revolution. In fraternal society circles he is very active and prominent ; has been Grand Commander of the Knights Templars of Pennsylvania, Grand Captain General of the Grand Encampment of the United States ; Grand Generalissimo; Deputy Grand Com- mander and Grand Master of the United States. In Odd Fellowship he is a Past Grand Patriarch of the State of Pennsylvania.
Aside from his profession Gen. Gobin has various local interests and connections of importance, being a member of the board of directors of the First National Bank, of Lebanon, and of the Cornwall & Lebanon Railway Company, and also solicitor for both corporations.
As a soldier, public official, lawyer and citizen. Gen. Gobin has had a brilliant and uniformly successful career. As a young man he abandoned his chosen profession at the threshold. to go to the front and serve his country in her hour of peril with an ardor that patriotism could alone inspire. there to win laurels and fame ; as a public official he has displayed wisdom, conserva- tism and executive ability far above the ordinary, winning merited recognition and promotion at the hands of his fellow-citizens and the State at large; as a lawyer he has won a place at the head of the Bar of both his county and State; and as a citizen, he leaves nothing to be desired.
Gen. Gobin is of pleasing personality : kind and courteous to all, of com- manding figure and magnetic temperament, he impresses favorably all who come in contact with him. His characteristics are strong and rugged-a stanch friend, a good fighter, but generous foe, warm-hearted and charitable. These are traits which, coupled with his achievements, have endeared him to his many friends and won him the respect and admiration of his enemies, if enemies he has, and where is the man who has impressed his personality upon the affairs of his time that has not?
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
RICHARD J. SEE. Among the prominent and influential citizens of Lebanon county few occupy a more enviable position in public esteem than does Richard J. See, the president of the Myerstown National Bank, and business man and capitalist well known all over the State.
Br birth Mr. See is a Pennsylvanian, and his early ancestors were of German extraction, his maternal grandfather. Jacob Seltzer, having been a native of Germany, and one of the leading and most influential men in Berks county, through a long and active life. The birth of Mr. See took place at Womelsdorf, in Berks county, and he was one of a family of six children born to George and Elizabeth (Seltzer) See, the former of whom was born in 1799, in Schuylkill county, Pa., and came to Berks county in young man- hood. By trade he was a builder and contractor, and became well and favor- ably known in his locality, rearing a family which has reflected credit upon him and the community. His wife, Elizabeth (Seltzer), born in 1804. died Octo- ber 7. 1884. and the death of Mr. See occurred in 1869. Their children were as follows: Jonathan, of Berks county; Charles, of Ashland, Schuylkill county : Fliza, deceased : Richard J., of Myerstown ; Helen, wife of John A. Oberly, of Oil City, Pa .; and Jane, who died young. In politics Mr. See was identified with the Democratic party. The family was reared in and has always been consistently connected with the Reformed Church.
Richard J. See was reared in the village of his birth, and secured his education in the local schools. At the age of sixteen years he entered the employ of a village merchant, Elias Fiddler, in the capacity of clerk, and there he learned the principles of this business, which five years later he put into practice, when, in association with William S. Filbert, he purchased Mr. Fiddler's business and conducted a general store for the succeeding five years. In 1861 he came to Lebanon county and engaged in farming, continuing to follow agricultural pursuits for some seven years, and then began dealing in horses, and for fifteen years he continued to follow this line, becoming well known east and west for his honest and upright methods of doing business. In 1884 he retired from the farm, and with his wife and infant granddaughter removed to Myerstown, where he purchased an elegant home, and which pleas- ant city has ever since been their place of residence. As one of the organizers of the Myerstown Bank, his interest has always centered in this institution and he has served on its board of directors and as vice-president, and, upon the death of the late A. H. Carmony, became its able president. Since that time his careful, conservative course has retained him the confidence of the financial world, and he is one of the most highly regarded citizens of this place.
In 1858 Mr. See was united in marriage with Miss Mary Elizabeth
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
Leisse, daughter of John S. and Rebecca (Van Reed) Leisse, prominent farm- ing people of Berks county, now deceased, who had a family of three children, Margaret Anna, John Calvin, and Mrs. See, the latter being the only sur- vivor. One daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. See, Annie R., who became the wife of George H. Horst, and who passed away at the early age of twenty-two years, on October 28, 1884, leaving behind an infant daughter, Mary E., who has taken her mother's place in the hearts and home of her grandparents. She is a young lady of most winning personality, and is pur- suing her studies at Bryn Mawr College, being particularly talented in music.
Like his honored father, Mr. See has always supported Democratic can- didates and principles. He is a man of unerring judgment and has con- sistently sustained a reputation for safe and conservative business methods. He is at all times approachable in matters concerning the public weal, and is charitable and benevolent in private life, never having been a man of ostenta- tion. In him Myerstown finds one of her best citizens.
EZRA GRUMBINE, M. D. This is a familiar and honored name in Lebanon county, where the bearer has for many years gone in and out before the people in the busy life of a practicing physician, and has ever evidenced a disposition to sacrifice his own comfort in order to ameliorate the suffer- ings of others. Dr. Grumbine is not only well and favorably known in the field of medicine, but of late years has made his genius felt in the line of finance, being at the present time president of the Lebanon County Trust Company, one of the leading financial institutions in this section of the State.
Dr. Grumbine was born February 1, 1845, at Fredericksburg, Pa. He traces his ancestry six generations back to Leonhart Krumbein, who im- migrated from the Palatinate in Germany to this country, crossing the ocean in the ship "Brothers," and landing at Philadelphia on September 30, 1754. Settling near Schaefferstown, Pa., he reared a family of children among whom was a son who received his father's name of Leonhart. This Leonhart's son, Jacob, migrated to the northern part of Bethel township, Lebanon county, Pa., to a farm at the foot of the "Little Mountain," two miles north of Fredericksburg.
Among Jacob's numerous family was one who received the name of John Grumbine, a man of short stature and kind disposition, who married Susanna Feehrer, and they had one child. John Philip Grumbine, the father of the subject of this sketch. Mrs. John Philip Grumbine's maiden name was Maria Light.
Dr. Ezra Grumbine was educated in the common schools of his native
Grumbine, M.D.
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
village, at the Lebanon Valley Institute at Annville, at Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport, and at the Medical Department of the University of Pennsyl- vania, graduating from the latter institution, in March, 1868, wth the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine. His preceptors in the study of medicine were Drs. Fahnestock and Grumbine at Annville, and Dr. H. K. Hartzell at Goods- ville, in Lehigh county. Previous to his entering upon his medical career, he taught school in Bethel and South Annville townships, and for one season had charge of the school in the borough of Dillsburg, in York county, Pennsylvania.
In 1869 he settled in Fredericksburg for the practice of his profession, but two years later removed to Mt. Zion, where he has since resided, enjoy- ing a large general practice. He keeps in close touch with his profession, and is a member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, and of the local county association. He is also a member of the Lebanon County Historical Society, to whose literature he has at different times made con- tributions : and in 1894 he read a lyric poem in the local vernacular before the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania German Society at Reading. He is one of the earliest members of this association. Appointed postmaster by Postmaster-General Key in 1877, he served in that capacity at Mt. Zion for thirteen years.
Dr. Grumbine is a gentleman of decided opinions, and has the courage ·of his convictions when once he has made up his mind. This was shown in the fall of 1892 when he accepted the nomination for Congress on the Pro- hibition platform, making a gallant losing fight. Of late years he has given considerable attention to business lines, and in 1902 became one of a party of gentlemen who organized the Lebanon County Trust Company, and was elected its president. This institution is rapidly taking rank as one of the leading financial centers of the section, owing to the careful management of its board of directors.
The Doctor is a man of refined and cultivated tastes, and is not only a master of the two lines mentioned, but has evinced a decided literary bent which he has frequently indulged as a means of relaxation from his pro- fessional labors. From the fact that his verses, both in English and in the Pennsylvania German vernacular, have been copied by metropolitan journals, and that his productions have appeared in Philadelphia, New York and Bos- ton, his friends have solicited him to have a volume of his writings published. This he may do at some time in the future.
In 1868 Dr. Grumbine was married to Annie Elizabeth Beaver, eldest daughter of Dr. Daniel H. Beaver, of Fredericksburg. She was born De-
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
cember 13, 1849, and died in September, 1880, leaving two sons and one daughter. Harvey Carson, the elder son, was educated in the common schools of Mt. Zion, Fredericksburg and Lebanon ; at Palatinate College, Myerstown ; Lafayette College, Easton; and Wesleyan University, Connecticut, at which last named institution he took the degree of Ph. B. He then went abroad and finished his studies with a three-years course in the University of Munich. Germany, where he received the degree, cum laude, of Doctor of Philosophy. He is at the present time filling the chair of English Literature in the Uni- versity of Wooster, State of Ohio. Thaddeus Stevens, the other son, was edu- cated in the common schools and at Schuylkill Seminary at Fredericksburg. He served an apprenticeship as a druggist, and matriculated as a student in the College of Pharmacy at Philadelphia, but ill health obliged him to abandon the study. Bessie Shirley, the daughter, was educated at the Moravian Semi- nary and College for Women at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The second marriage of the Doctor occurred January 10, 1882, when he called to preside over his home, Miss Virginia S. Uhler, a native of Lebanon and a daughter of the late Captain Joseph Uhler, whose early ancestor was Anastasius Uhler, a Palatine immigrant who landed at Philadelphia from the ship "Samuel," August II, 1732.
LIEUT. HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG RICHARDS. The city of Lebanon, the center of a county of the most fertile of Pennsylvania's farming lands, figuratively flowing with "milk and honey," worthily bears a name made famous in the early days of Christian history. It is the home of wealth, culture and education, numbering among its citizens many who have, with honor, distinguished themselves in notable fields of activity. In recall- ing these the biographer finds a prominent example in Lieut. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Richards, who has not only been himself distinguished, but whose ancestry is also one of eminence in the religious, military and public life of the State and Nation.
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Richards was born August 16, 1848. in St. John's Evangelical Lutheran parsonage at Easton, Pa., a son of Rev. John William Richards, D. D., who was born April 18, 1803. and died Janu- ary 24. 1854, a prominent divine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. He was given the degree of D. D. by Jefferson College, August 6. 1851: was secretary of the Ministerium in 1843, and served three terms in that incum- bency, and was elected president of the same in 1850, which office he held at the time of his death. On May 21, 1835, he married Andora Garber, born May 21, 1815, died May 26, 1892, only daughter of Henry Garber. born
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March 23, 1792, died November 1, 1848, and Susanna Paul, born September 2. 1789, died June 4, 1832, daughter of Abraham Paul, born July 11, 1765, died March 29, 1823, and Ann Barbara Hortter, born September 18, 1764, died April 11, 1845, son of Abraham Paul, born July 28, 1730, died son of Andrew Paul, born about 1700, died 1790, in Germantown, Pa., and Elizabeth Reiner, daughter of Henry Reiner, born in 1675, died in 1749, of Limerick, Montgomery county. Henry Garber was a son of Benjamin Garber, born February 20, 1769. died August 6, 1818, and Hannah Reiner, born May 5, 1774, died April 27, 1861 (daughter of Henry Reiner, born in 1738, died February 19, 1816, and Susanna Gisbert, born 1742, died Febru- ary 24, 1816, the former a son of Philip Reiner, born about 1712, died about 1795, son of Henry Reiner, born in 1675, died in 1749), son of Benedict Garber, of Alsace, Germany, born October 13. 1732, died June 12, 1817. The latter emigrated to Trappe, Montgomery county, Pa., in 1741, and during the Revolution served in Capt. Jacob Peterman's Fourth Co., Sixth Battalion, Philadelphia County Militia, of 1780. On November 27. 1758, he married Dorothea Loreht, born December 5. 1733, died February 25, 1807. Benedict Garber was a son of Henry and Catherine Garber, both of whom died on shipboard in 1741.
Rev. John William Richards, D. D., was a son of Hon. Matthias Rich- ards, born February 26, 1758, who died August 4, 1830, of Reading, Pa., volunteer in Col. Daniel Udree's Second Battalion, Berks County Regiment, 1777, at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and in operations prior to the encampment at Valley Forge: Major of the Fourth Battalion Phila- delphia County Regiment. 1780: Justice of the Peace, 1788, for forty years ; Judge of Berks County Courts, 1791-97. also about 1824: Inspector of Cus- toms, 1801-02; Member of Congress, 1807-1I ; Collector of Revenue, 1812; Clerk of Orphan's Court for Berks county, 1823; Trustee of Trinity Evan- gelical Lutheran Church, of Reading. Pa. On May 8, 1782, he married Maria Salome Muhlenberg, born July 13. 1766, died March 13, 1827, sister of Major-Gen. John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, of the Continental army, of Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg, first Speaker of the United States Congress, and Rev. Gotthilf Henry Ernst Muhlenberg. D. D., prominent Luth- eran divine and eminent botanist. She was the youngest daughter of Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. D. D., born September 6, 1711, who died Octo- ber 7. 1787, the distinguished Patriarch of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Anna Maria Weiser, born June 24, 1727, died August 23, 1802 (daughter of Col. John Conrad Weiser, born November 2, 1696, died July 13. 1760, married 1720, Anna Eve -- , born January 25, 1700.
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BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
died December 27, 1778, the eminent head of the Indian Bureau of the Prov- ince of Pennsylvania. 1731-60; Justice of the Peace. 1741-52 : President Judge of Berks County Courts, 1752-60; Lieutenant Colonel, October 31, 1755. commanding the First Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment, in defense of the Blue Ridge frontier during the French and Indian War; son of John Conrad Weiser, born 1660, died 1746, and Anna Magdalena Uebele, born 1666, died May I, 1709; leader of the German Palatine immigration into New York Province, 1710; Captain of German contingent from Queensbury, in British army assembled at Albany. N. Y .. during summer of 1711, as an expedition against Montreal, Canada : son of Jacob Weiser. born about 1625: son of Jacob Weiser, born about 1590, both holding the honorable office of "Schuld- heisz." or Chief Magistrate, of Gross-Aspach, County of Backnang. Wurtem- berg, Germany) ; son of Nicholaus Melchior Muhlenberg. of Eimbeck. Han- over, Germany, and Anna Mary Kleinschmid, daughter of an officer in mili- tary service : a scion of the German noble "von Muhlenberg" family. which had its origin in Ziracka, a prince of the Wendish and Sorbic tribes, who was converted to Christianity about 950, A. D .. and had his residence near the present city of Muhlberg. Hon. Matthias Richards was a son of Matthias Richards, born January 9, 1719, and died March 28, 1775, of New Holland township, Montgomery county. Pa .. a prominent and wealthy landed proprie- tor of that locality, and member of the building committee of the Swamp Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1767 (married. about 1748, Ann Margaret Hillegas, born August 15, 1726. died January 6. 1773, daughter of John Frederick Hillegas, born November 24, 1685, died January 6, 1765. and Eliza-
beth Barbara , who died March 4, 1759: a prominent resident of "Goshenhoppen." Montgomery county, Pa., whence he emigrated from Ger- many, arriving September 18, 1727 ; uncle of Michael Hillegas, first Treasurer of the United States, 1775-1789) : son of John Frederick Reichert. born 1679, in Augsburg, Germany, who died in September. 1748. and was buried at Swamp Evangelical Lutheran Church, of which he was one of the founders ; arrived in America about 1700 or 1703 : married Anna Maria --. born 1685, who died March 18, 1756; son of an officer in the German army.
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