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 41
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84
ELIAS B. KREISER. Fully two hundred years ago, Frederick Kreiser, a native of Switzerland, came to America, locating in Union town- ship, Lebanon Co., Pa. He bought 500 acres of land from the government. cleared same, and built necessary structures for his family and stock. Here he made his home until his death. His family consisted of three sons, the eldest of whom was born in Switzerland. Casper by name, and the other two, Michael and Frederick, were born in Union township, near Moonshine Church. Frederick married Miss Behney and remained on the home farin until his death, six years after that of his wife. Both were members of the Lutheran Church, and he was a Whig in politics. Their family was as fol- lows: William, Martin. Catherine, Conrad, Frederick, Lucinda, Peter, Henry, Felix, Eve, Mary, Barney, Sophrona, Nancy (who married Jacob Hour) and Jacob (who married Miss Deaven). All grew to maturity, married and had issue except Mary, and all lived to a good old age, one reaching the extreme limit of ninety-four years. All were Whigs in politics, Lutherans in religious belief, and many of the men held township offices.
Of this family Frederick Kreiser, who was born January 3, 1803, married first Mary, daughter of John Phillips. After her death he wedded, about 1831, for his second wife, Catherine Bohr, daughter of Mathias and Fake Bohr, who was born December 24, 1814. By his first wife he had two chil- dren : Nancy, and one who died in infancy. The family of the second wife was: Elias B., born November 14, 1833; and Susan, born in 1835, died about 1856, unmarried.
364
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
Elias B. Kreiser was born at what was known as Union Forge, and grew to maturity near there, attending the public schools of the neighborhood, which was the first free school in that section. Until he was twenty years of age, he attended school during the winter months, and worked upon the farm in the summer. Reaching his majority, he purchased a boat and en- gaged in freighting on the Pennsylvania canal from Wilkesbarre to Balti- more, Md., and Delaware City, Del., also on the Chesapeake and Delaware bays. Following this business for sixteen years, he met with average success, but in 1864 he sold his interests and purchased his present farm in Union township. His home farm consists of fifty-one acres, and he owns another of eighty-six acres, in the same township. In addition to his farming inter- ests, Mr. Kreiser is engaged very successfully in the lumber business, he buying timber land and sawing the lumber in his own mill, selling to the Lebanon Car works and the Lebanon Railroad Company. His mili has a capacity of 4,000 feet per day, and is supplied with modern improvements and labor saving devices. In politics he is a Republican, and for five years has served as township collector.
On February 23, 1854, Mr. Kreiser was married to Miss Caroline Mease, a daughter of Philip and Barbara (Walcarr) Mease, born in 1830. The children born to them were as follows: Cinderella died at the age of six years; William married Sarah Felby; Jerome married Mary Wolf; Tobias died at the age of four years; Grant married Lizzie Lamb; Elmer married Mary Hetrich; Mahlon; Elias; Alice married C. Rutt. The entire family are connected with the Lutheran Church, where all are active workers and liberal supporters of the good works of that denomination, and they are also important factors in the social life of the community.
HARRY SELTZER MEILY, M. D. Though not having resided long in the community in which he is at present practicing his profession, Dr. Meily is well known all over Lebanon county, of which he is a native, and where his people have for long years been prominently identified with the social, religious and educational life of the county. Dr. Meily settled in Belle Grove in 1900, and in the short period of his residence has ingratiated himself into the good opinions of the best class of citizens in the community. He is rapidly building up a lucrative practice. being regarded as a physician of more than ordinary merit.
Dr. Meily was born at Mount Nebo, west of Jonestown, about two and one-half miles, on December 29, 1856. His father was Capt. Jacob B. Meily, a native of Cumberland county, and an honored veteran of the Civil war,
365
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
who commanded a company of infantry during that sanguinary struggle, and who was a citizen of great distinction in the county, having been twice elected to the Pennsylvania Legislature. In his earlier days Capt. Meily taught school at Mount Nebo, in one of the old log school houses. He later abandoned teaching, and succeeded his father in the manufacture of earthen- ware. He married Maria, daughter of John and Elizabeth Seltzer, and their children were: Ida M., Harry S., John (of Heilmandale), William (of Lebanon), Lily and Paul.
Martin Meily, a brother of the late John Meily, and father of Capt. Meily, was one of Lebanon's foremost citizens. Martin Meily removed to Leb- anon county, where he settled, near Jonestown, and was himself a man of much prominence in his day, being a justice of the peace and county surveyor. He is remembered by the older class of citizens as having been extensively engaged in the manufacture of earthenware.
Harry S. Meily passed his boyhood in attendance on the schools of Hanover township, and remained at home until 1877, when he reached his majority. He then spent three and a half years in the West, but at the end of that time returned to Lebanon county resolved to make it his home in the future. He entered the service of his uncle John Meily, an iron manu- facturer of Lebanon, where he continued until 1894. From early manhood Dr. Meily had been resolved to follow the medical profession, but deferring to the wishes of his mother had not taken active steps to enter the profes- sion. He had, however, since he was eighteen years of age, given special attention to it in his reading, and was therefore fully prepared when the opportunity came to enter college. In 1894 he took the preliminary examina- tion and entered Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia, where he took a thorough four-years course. graduating with honors in 1898. He was licensed to practice his profession, and began active work in Reading in 1899. The following year he located at Belle Grove, as before stated. Dr. Meily is thoroughly prepared for his profession, and is a great student, keep- ing in close touch with the best medical thought of the day. He is a member of the Homeopathic Medical Association of Reading. and while there was a member of the staff of the Reading Homeopathic Hospital, and a member of the Hahnemann College Alumni Association. The Doctor was married. in 1876, to Sallie Behney, daughter of John and Kathryn Behney, of Ell- wood, Schuylkill Co., Pa., and the following children have been born to this union : John B. was a passenger brakeman, and was killed by the cars on the Reading railroad : Charles is a stationary engineer ; Lester is about finish- ing his preparatory course in the Lebanon Valley College.
366
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
The careful diagnosis which Dr. Meily makes of his cases, and the deep study which he gives them during the progress of the disease, are showing results in the building up of a solid and substantial practice. He and his wife are popular members of the community of Belle Grove, where the Doctor's genial personality has already made him a popular resident.
HON. HENRY S. GOCKLEY, secretary of the Tulpehocken Mutual Fire Insurance Company, justice of the peace, lawyer and leading citizen of Myerstown, was born January 1, 1854, in Clay township, Lancaster county, a son of John and Susannah (Shirk) Gockley.
John Gockley, the father who died August 5, 1903, was born in Elizabeth township, Lancaster county, in 1822 and was long a prominent farmer in Lebanon county, but lived his last years retired from active labor. He was a son of Henry Gockley, one of the early settlers of Cocalico town- ship, and Elizabeth (Dinger), his wife. A family of eight children was born to John Gockley and wife, namely: Henry Shirk, of Myerstown; Dr. Albert S., a graduate of the University of the City of New York, now of Carroll county, Iowa; John W., a noted musician, who served five years in the United States army as a musician, now of the far West; Lizzie, the wife of William Eckert, of Lebanon; Ellen Susan, who died in 1877; Milton, a machinist in Reading; Martin. a clerk in Reading; and Miss Margaret, who resides with her parents, at Avon, Lebanon county. The family is supposed to be of French-Huguenot extraction.
Henry S. Gockley was reared on the farm in Clay township, Lancaster county, until he was seven years of age, when his parents moved to Myers- town, and he was thus given good school advantages, attending first the common schools, and later, what is now Albright College of Myerstown. For twenty years he engaged in teaching, and became well known over a wide extent for his proficiency and success in that profession. He was not however, satisfied until he had also prepared himself and been admitted to the Bar of Lebanon County, Pa., in 1882, for which profession he has proved himself eminently fitted. It was scarcely possible that so well qualified and popular a citizen should escape political honors, and from 1885 to 1887 Mr. Gockley was a member of the State Legislature, sent there by a large Repub- lican majority, having been identified with this party since early manhood. In 1886 he accepted the responsible position of secretary of the Tulpehocken Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and has devoted much attention to the increasing business of this well-established company. Since May 5. 1001. he has administered justice, having been elected as justice of the peace, and
367
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
he has been much commended for his impartial rulings. Fraternally he is a member of the Tulpehocken Council, of the Junior O. U. A. M., No. 941, and was one of its organizers.
In 1885 Mr. Gockley was married to Miss Pamilla L. Frantz, daughter of M. K. and Isabella Frantz, of Myerstown, extended mention of this prominent family being found elsewhere. Three children were born to this union : George G., who died in childhood; and Helen G. and Harry F., both of Myerstown. Mrs. Gockley is one of seven children born to her parents, namely : Pamilla, Mrs. Gockley: Agnes, the wife of F. P. Miller, of Myers- town; Miss Emma, of this place; Mary, the wife of O. K. Allbright, of Reading; Rebecca, the wife of Rev. A. F. Nace of St. Clairsville, Pa .; and Charles P. and Tilden H., both merchants of Myerstown.
Mr. Gockley has long been a prominent and respected citizen of Myers- town, and the training he has enjoyed in public life and the ability he possesses fit him well for his present responsibilities. Few men in the vicinity are better posted in the stirring events of modern life, while few give the great questions more serious consideration. Both he and wife belong to honored old families and are much respected for their personal attributes.
MAURICE EUGENE BRIGHTBILL, a leading citizen of Annville, and the owner of the largest and most valuable stone quarries in Lebanon county, was born in the old Moyer homestead-that of his maternal grand- mother-at Clear Springs, Lebanon county, Pa., June 28, 1863, son of the late Samuel Landis Brightbill, who was one of Annville's most prominent citizens.
Samuel L. Brightbill was born June 14, 1840, on a farm within a half mile of Campbelltown, Lebanon county, a son of Abraham Brightbill, who was a son of Abraham, who was born in Germany. This last named Abraham Brightbill was one of three brothers who came to America with their mother, who was a widow, and he settled in Lebanon (then Lancaster) county, but later removed to Westmoreland county, Pa., and from there his son, Abra- ham, came to Lebanon when a boy of four or five years, making his home with an uncle by the name of Kreider. Here he grew to manhood and married Mary Landis, daughter of Abraham Landis, and to them were born children as follows : Eliza, who married Jonathan Herr, of Annville, is now deceased ; Mary, who married John W. Balsbaugh, lives in Hummelstown: Abraham married Mary Kreider, and lives in Fulton, Mo .: Sarah, who married Adam Strickler, lives in Hummelstown ; Samuel Landis was the father of Maurice E .: Amanda married John Bomberger. of Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
Samuel Landis Brightbill was reared at Campbelltown, and attended the
368
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
public schools of his own neighborhood, and then Annville Academy, after which he went to college at Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland county. After leav- ing college at Mt. Pleasant he married and spent two or three years in farming on the Moyer homestead. For three years he was engaged in the grain business at Swatara, Dauphin county, and came to Annville in 1870. Mr. Brightbill instigated and started, and was really the founder, of the Annville Savings Bank (now the Annville National Bank), of which he was cashier for a period of five years, being also a director. During this time he turned his attention to the lime business, and was the first person in this section of the country to enter, that line, becoming a large manufacturer of lime and stone. Upon leaving the bank he continued the lime business, adding to it the quarrying of stone, and continued that business on an extensive scale until within a few years before his death, when he retired. Mr. Brightbill was justly regarded as one of the most enterprising and public-spirited men in Annville. He assisted in building and organizing the street railroad line between Annville and Lebanon, and also the Lebanon & Myerstown line; was one of a company which purchased the old Lebanon county jail property in Lebanon, and converted it into the handsome market house now on South Eighth street; was interested in the Lebanon Valley Hedge Fence Company ; the Union Forge Company; was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Palmyra Bank, of which he was one of the directors; and was inter- ested in many other enterprises, including the coal business. Mr. Brightbill served as tax collector and school director of his township, and was all in all one of its most useful citizens. He was always a Republican in politics. His death occurred in September, 1898.
Mr. Brightbill married Elizabeth Heisey, who was born on the old Moyer homestead at Clear Springs, Lebanon county, Pa., April 4, 1841, daughter of Daniel B. and Elizabeth (Moyer) Heisey, the former of whom was born in ISIO, near Middletown, Dauphin Co., Pa., and died in 1884. The latter was born on the Moyer homestead at Clear Springs, in 1823, and died in 1899. They had children as follows: Anna, who died at the age of seventeen years; Elizabeth, who married Samuel Landis Brightbill; and Benjamin, who died at the age of fourteen years. Two children were born to Samuel Landis Brightbill and his wife, Maurice Eugene and Annie, the latter of whom was born in 1874, married Reno S. Harp, of Frederick, Md., and died in 1896.
Maurice Eugene Brightbill was educated in the public schools and at the Lebanon Valley College, leaving the latter in 1889 and assisting his father for the following five years. In 1894 he became a member of the firm of S. L. Brightbill & Son, and succeeded to the business on the death of his father,
369
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
whose reputation as a man of ability and integrity he well sustains. The present generation is also maintaining the reputation of the family for public spirit. The new gymnasium which is being built for the Lebanon Valley College is the gift of the family, and will be known as the Brightbill Gymnasium.
In 1888 Mr. Brightbill was united in marriage with Miss Millie Weid- man, daughter of George and Permella ( Heilman) Weidman, who was born at Belle Grove, Lebanon county. Two children have come to Mr. and Mrs. Brightbill, namely: Robert Eugene. born November 1, 1889, who died December 10, 1891 ; and Helen Elizabeth, born November 8, 1894.
JAMES J. NEWHARD, who died at his home in Lebanon, October 6, 1891, was a native of Allentown, born January 6, 1827. He was a jeweler by trade, and while still a boy served an apprenticeship with Mr. Soliday, of Doylestown, Pa. From there he went to Pottsville, and worked with Mr. Kelly; later he was in partnership with Mr. Boas, of Harrisburg, after which he came to Lebanon and entered the employ of James Kelly, whose place of business was in the Eagle Hotel building. Mr. Newhard subsequently opened a jewelry store in the building at the northwest corner of Ninth and Willow streets, and from there removed to Market square, where he was located at the time of his death. In politics he was a Republican, and he took a promi- nent part in party management. While Lebanon was still a borough, he served in several capacities as borough representative of his party.
Mr. Newhard was married three times, and of the children of the first wife, who was Miss Bidleman, of Baltimore, Md., there survive: Mrs. Randolph Graeff, of Lebanon ; Mrs. Thena Knerr, of Chicago: Thadeus M .. of Schuylkill county, and Robert M., of Fernwood, Delaware county, a United States postal inspector. The second wife, who was a daughter of the late Jacob Weidle, a very prominent Mason, left children as follows: Mrs. Virginia Albright (now deceased), and May and Nellie Newhard of Lebanon, The third wife was Valeria Schall. of Orwigsburg. Mr. Newhard entered into rest at the age of sixty-four, highly esteemed and sincerely mourned in the community where he was so well known.
Thomas Schall, father of the present Mrs. Newhard, was a soldier in the Civil war, and died during the service. He was interested in the mining of coal, and had large interests in coal lands. His wife, Diana E. Mayer, a daughter of Rev. Philip Mayer, a Reformed minister, who preached for sixty- one years, bore him six children : Esther R. Bickley, Olivia D. C. Anthony and David R., residents of Orwigsburg, Schuylkill county; Harry M., a
24
370
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
physician of Rochester, New York; Mamie S. Drumheller, of Adamsdale, Schuylkill county, and Mrs. Valeria S. Newhard, of Lebanon. The mother. now Mrs. George Adams, also resides at Adamsdale, Schuylkill county. Pennsylvania.
CYRUS P. LONG, clerk of the Orphans' Court of Lebanon county, and a well-known citizen of Annville where he is one of the leading business men, proprietor of the Annville Roller Mills, was born June 10, 1850, in Londonderry township, Lebanon county.
The parents of Mr. Long were the estimable Jacob and Elizabetl: (Brown) Long, well and favorably known for so many years in South Ann- ville township. Jacob Long was a son of John Long, and was born in 1822, in Derry township. Dauphin county. By trade he was a shoemaker, and was an honest, industrious and respected citizen. He married Elizabeth Brown, born in Derry township, Dauphin county, in 1817, who died in 1887. Her father, Christian Brown, was a clock-maker, who manufactured the wooden clocks which were at that time common enough in Derry township. but which now command large prices and are held by their owners as precious relics. His whole life was passed in Derry township where he was well known in business, social and church gatherings. The children born to Jacob Long and wife were ten in number, as follows : Sarah, wife of William Miller. proprietor of the Washington Hotel at Annville; Catherine, widow of Philip McCurdy, of Annville: Caroline, widow of Uriah Uhler. of Annville; Samuel, a coal dealer in Lebanon; David (twin to Samuel), a farmer in South Annville township: Cyrus P .; Louisa, wife of Henry Durham, of Lebanon : Miss Malinda: Emma, wife of David Beachler, of Lebanon ; and Elizabeth, wife of William Boltz, of Annville. The religious connection of the Long family has always been with the Reformed Church.
Cyrus P. Long was one year old when his parents removed to South Annville township, and has resided here all his life, being educated in the common schools. Here he learned the milling trade with David Kreider, serving an apprenticeship of two and one-half years, then going to work in the mill of J. S. Killinger, with whom he was associated for sixteen years. In 1886 he formed a partnership with Frank Himmelberger, renting Mr. Killinger's mill. and this business has been continued ever since under the name of the Annville Roller Mills, one of the leading industries of the section.
In 1873 Mr. Long married Miss Rebecca Sanders, born March 27. 1849. in South Annville, daughter of the late Philip Sanders. To this union five children have been born, namely : Ella M., born in 1874, who married Harry
371
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
Wagner, of Annville; Albert, born in 1877, who died in 1894; Carrie E., born December 24, 1879; Susan, born in 1884, who died in 1887; and Nora A., who was born in October, 1892. Mr. Long has been a Republican all his life, and has always taken an active interest, as a good citizen, in public affairs. For six years he served as a member of the school board of South Annville. and in 1899 he was elected on the Republican ticket to the office of clerk of the Orphans' Court of Lebanon county, for a term of three years, an election particularly gratifying to all concerned on account of his known reliability and executive ability. Like other members of his family, Mr. Long belongs to the Reformed Church. Fraternally he is connected with the orders of K. of P .; Lebanon Valley Commandery, P. O. S. of A .; and the I. O. O. F.
JAMES LORD, manager of the American Iron and Steel Manufac- turing Company, at Lebanon, was born in 1844 in Delaware. After receiving his primary education he attended the preparatory school at Andover, Mass., and later St. John's College, at Annapolis, Md. In 1861 he entered the State service in Delaware as lieutenant of infantry, and on the disbanding of the State troops, served as volunteer aid with Gen. H. H. Lockwood, without rank or pay. In 1863 he was mustered into the United States service as second lieutenant of cavalry, Independent Company, Mary- land Volunteers, and was afterward promoted to the captaincy of said com- pany. He was honorably discharged from the United States service in August. 1865. and that month was appointed commissioner of freedmen and abandoned lands in Eastern Virginia. He resigned in 1866 to enter business in Delaware.
In 1871 Mr. Lord entered the iron business, in Reading; in 1882 he moved to Lebanon, as manager and treasurer of the Pennsylvania Bolt & Nut Company. On the consolidation, in 1899, of the East Lebanon Iron Company, J. H. Sternbergh & Son, the Pennsylvania Bolt & Nut Company an 1 Lebanon Iron Company, he was retained as manager in the new corpor- ation, the American Iron & Steel Manufacturing Company.
J. HENRY BENNETCH, whose handsome farm residence stands three-quarters of a mile west of Millbach, is one of the most able financiers and wise business managers in his vicinity. Starting in life with nothing but his own brains and muscles to depend upon, he has risen to a foremost place among agriculturists and live stock dealers of his section. As an evi- dence of his thrift he now owns three of the best improved farms in the county -- the old Becker homestead, the Bucher farm, and the Seibert place.
372
BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
besides his own residence property, and other valuable lands in Lebanon and Lancaster counties. He was born in West Cocalico township, Lancaster county, February 4, 1839, son of John and Leah (Becker) Bennetch.
The family is of German extraction, and an old one in this section of the country. Henry Bennetch, the first to be born and bred in this country, numbered among his children a son named John, who is mentioned below.
John Bennetch, grandfather of J. Henry, was reared in Berks county, and there early received excellent training in agriculture. Upon reaching manhood he settled in Berks county, and there followed farming for his life work. Thrifty and industrious, he made a thorough success of the industry, and assisted materially in the development of the county. He was influential and stood high among both agriculturists and business men of his section. By his marriage there were eight children: Benneville; John, who is men- tioned below ; Mary, who married a Mr. Kendig; Annie, who married Chris- tian West: Henry: Catherine; Frederick, a resident of Lancaster county ; and Elizabeth, of Myerstown.
John Bennetch, father of J. Henry, was an ambitious agriculturist, whose promising career was cut short by an early death. Born in 1818 on his father's farm, he was reared to a life of activity and self-reliance. Well instructed in agriculture, upon reaching manhood he engaged in that occupation, first settling on a farm in Lancaster county. Prospects of a better opening in his line decided him in a short time to move to a farın in Millcreek township, Lebanon county, where he continued his industry for a short time, and then moved to Jackson township, where he died at the age of twenty-six years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.