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 52
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years. He also sold books for a time about this period of his life for New York and Philadelphia publishing houses. In 1875 he came to Lebanon and entered the employ of the Lebanon Manufacturing Company, building cars. Here his executive ability soon brought promotion, and he was made foreman of a group of workmen. After being with this firm for about a year, he passed to a wider field of service with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, having been given the position of foreman of roundhouses at Harrisburg and Pottsville. While thus engaged he also did contracting for the same company at the latter town. He then returned to Annville, and subsequently came to Lebanon, where he entered the employ of lumber com- panies conducted by Reinoehl & Co. and Fox & Embrich. This gave him an experience which he utilized in 1887, in which year he began a contracting business on his own account. Mr. Zeigler was not a man to be content with small things-his mind having a natural grasp of great projects-and thus he became connected with some of the largest contracts ever given out in Lebanon. He was a man who had great pride in completing his contracts on schedule time, and was frequently the recipient of bonuses which were earned in that manner. It will be of interest to note here some of the larger contracts which he finished in the city, and which stand as enduring monu- ments to his genius: The remodeling of the Fairview public school was completed before contract time, and for which he received a handsome bonus; the handsomest church edifice in the city, the Salem Lutheran chapel, was the work of his hands; the Coleman Church; the Weimer Sixth Street Market House and Auditorium; the Galt residence on the Wish farm; the Miller Organ Company's Music Store; the Shenk building; and the hand- some residence of Col. J. B. Embrich were erected by Mr. Zeigler. He also built the Funk Syndicate row of tenements, and remodeled the buildings of the Lebanon Trust Company, and that of the Farmers' National Bank. The beautiful Auditorium at Mt. Gretna and the Good Samaritan Hospital are of his masterpieces.
Marriage was entered into by Mr. Zeigler August 28, 1878, in Lebanon. The lady, and who now survives him, was Miss Elmira Fitting. born at Indian Town Gap, Lebanon county, the daughter of Daniel and Lucetta Fitting, both now deceased. The marriage was blessed with two sons, Uriah C., Jr., born August 26, 1879; and Eugene, May 9. 1884. There were three other inmates of the Zeigler home, a granddaughter, Elmira Clark Zeigler, born September 15. 1899, and died December 20, 1902: and Charles Francis White and William Neat. The former was born in Lebanon June
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29, 1880, the latter in County Roscommon, Ireland, August 1, 1879. He came to the United States in 1885.
Mrs. Zeigler is a member of the New Lutheran Church, and is a lady of many kindly motherly attributes. Her husband was a leading spirit in the Reformed Church, which in his death lost a loyal supporter. He was a man whose many sterling qualities endeared him to a very large circle of friends, who greatly mourned his decease.
ISAAC B. HAAK, one of the leading and successful business men of Myerstown, and a dealer in lumber and slate, was born in Myerstown, Pa., September 19, 1848, being a son of Michael and Maria ( Noecker ) Haak.
Jonathan Haak, grandfather of Isaac B., and his brother, Prof. Samuel Haak, was one of the early settlers of this locality, who engaged in farming all his life, and reared to honorable manhood and womanhood a large family. One of his sons, Michael, father of Isaac B. Haak, was born in Jackson town- ship in 1815, and died in the same township, January 6, 1884. His wife, Maria Noecker, was born in 1820, and died in 1891. This worthy couple were the parents of five children, as follows: Isaac B .; Mary A., who marriedi Alfred G. Ream, of North Jackson township; Sarah, who married A. B. Landis. and is now deceased; Samuel, principal of the Myerstown High School; and Jonathan, a farmer of North Jackson township. Michael Haak, the father of the above family, was a Republican in politics, and took an interest in local affairs, although he did not desire office. In religious matters he was a very active member of the United Brethren Church, and held the various offices in the same. In the different relations of life, Mr. Haak proved himself an honorable, upright man, charitable and kind hearted, and one who followed out in his life the principles and teachings of his church.
Isaac B. Haak was reared upon the farm, and received his education in the public schools of his locality, the Myerstown Academy, and later what is now known as Albright College. In 1871 he embarked in the lumber busi- ness, in which he is very successful, and is also a large contractor and builder, and by hard, patient effort has worked his way to his present position of affluence and prominence.
In 1870 Mr. Haak was married to Miss Mary A. Loose, of Myerstown, a daughter of William and Catherine ( Peiffer) Loose, of Berks county, and this union has been blessed with one son, E. L. Haak, who is in business with his father, and a very enterprising and successful young business man of Myerstown. E. L. Haak married Miss Lizzie R. Tice, of Myerstown, but they have no children. In politics Mr. Haak is a stanch Republican, as are
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all of the family. For many years, he has been very prominent in the United Brethren Church, having been Sunday School superintendent, president of the Young People's Society and treasurer of the Eastern Pennsylvania Con- ference of the United Brethren Church ; he is a trustee of the Lebanon Valley College, and he is a man of high, Christian character, highly esteemed by all who know him. In addition to his other large business interests, Mr. Haak is a director of the Myerstown National Bank, and also a director in the Lebanon County Trust Company, of Lebanon. Mrs. Haak is a member of one of the old and prominent families of this part of the State, and is herself a charming and intellectual lady.
CYRUS H. LESLIE, M. D., leading physician and surgeon of Palmyra, Lebanon county, was born on the old Leslie homestead farm, about three miles northwest of Annville, in North Annville township, January 24, 1841, a son of John Leslie.
John Leslie was born on the Leslie homestead, April 21, 1814, was the son of Benjamin Leslie, a native of Lancaster county, having been born near Muddy Run, that county, about 1794, and died about 1867. Benjamin Leslie came to Lebanon county when it was a portion of Dauphin county, and mar- ried Elizabeth Nye, they having the following children: Christian, deceased; Samuel, of Palmyra, retired : John, deceased : Benjamin, of Lebanon; Joseph, of Annville ; Henry, deceased ; Rebecca, deceased, married to Peter Barnhard; Catherine. married to Jacob Roland ; and Henry, who died at the age of seven- teen years.
The father, John Leslie, married Mary Heisey, born in Dauphin county, Pa .. April 22, 1817, a daughter of Jacob Heisey. John Leslie died December 5, 1848, and his wife passed away April 18. 1859, their children having been as follows: Cyrus H. ; Benjamin H., born July 22, 1843, married Miss Lydia Mease, and now resides at Lawrence, Kans. ; Daniel H. born March 12, 1847, married Mary Rhodes, of Pottstown, and died in 1888. The father was a farmer all his life, his days being spent in North Annville township. Both he and his wife were most excellent Christian people and consistent members of the Dunkard Brinzer Church.
Dr. Leslie was reared upon the farm until he reached his fifteenth year, attending the common schools and the old Annville Academy. In August. 1862, he enlisted in Company C. One Hundred and Forty-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, was mustered into the service at Harrisburg, and dis- charged by general order at Washington, in June, 1865. His regiment was with the First Army Corps, of the Army of the Potomac. Enlisting as a pri-
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vate, he was a corporal when discharged. He was in the battles of Chancel- lorsville and Gettysburg, and was wounded during the first day's fighting in the railroad cut at Gettysburg. His injuries were very serious, he receiving three wounds at a distance of less than twenty-five feet, and these, especially the one in the right leg, confined him to the hospital for four months. Before the war, Dr. Leslie had been engaged in mechanical work, but upon his return, he accepted a clerkship, and later embarked in several other enterprises, until 1872, when he entered the office of his brother, Dr. Benjamin Leslie, at Ono, Lebanon county, where he read medicine from the spring of that year until fall, and then entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsyl- vania, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1874. That same year, he began the practice of his profession at Annville, taking the practice of Dr. Fahnestock, and there remained until 1882. At that date, he located at Pal- myra, where he has built up a very desirable general practice, and is recognized as the leading representative of his profession in that locality. Long experi- ence, wide reading, and a great love for his profession, all combine to make Dr. Leslie a wise and successful physician, and he is justly popular and beloved.
Dr. Leslie married Ellen Henry, daughter of Andrew and Louisa ( Shade) Henry, and four children have been born of this union: Roger Sherman, born October 12, 1876, who died when ten months old; Lyman Abbott, born April 19, 1879, who died when five months old; Ruth L. M., born January 28, 1881, a graduate of the Lebanon Valley College ; and Cyrus H., born May 28, 1888, who attended the common schools of Palmyra, and is now a student at the business college at Lebanon. Dr. Leslie is a member of Sedg- wick Post, No. 42, G. A. R., Lebanon, and a member of Camp No. 192, P. O. S. of A., Palmyra. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and takes an active part in local affairs. His religious connection is with the Lutheran Church, of which he is a liberal supporter, and he and his family are very important factors in the social life of their community.
GEORGE S. MEISER. To the citizens of Lebanon county this retired agriculturist needs scarcely an introduction. He is one of the grand old gentlemen of Millcreek township, in every respect a worthy representative of the cultivated family who for six generations have occupied his present home- stead.
Michael Meiser, the first American representative of the family was one of a party of one hundred colonizing families, who, under grants issued by Queen Anne, came to this country in 1702, and settled at Albany, New York. Unable to procure good titles to their land, Mr. Meiser and eight other famil-
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ies shortly afterward, moved to Dauphin county, Pa., locating on Big Swatara creek, but, being soon ordered East by a superior force of Indians, the new comers journeyed to the Millbach Valley, where they pitched their camp for the night. The fertility of the soil and the discovery of running water decided them to remain, and in 1704 Mr. Meiser took out patents on the tract of land, now occupied by his descendant, George S. Meiser. Here he at once erected a comfortable house, and later cleared up considerable of the land. He was endowed with great perseverance, energy, and marked business sagacity.
The line of descent was unbrokenly continued by George Meiser ( I), son of Michael, through George Meiser (2), son of George (I), to John George Meiser. The latter was the grandfather of George S., and a farmer by occu- pation. He married and had two children: George, who is mentioned below ; and Catherine.
George Meiser, son of John George, and father of George S., was born in 1800. Under refined home influences, accompanied by thorough training for life's activities, he grew to maturity. During his early manhood he married Sarah Seibert, a noble minded woman, who is now deceased. By this union there were six children : George S., who is mentioned below; Eliza, who mar- ried Joseph Kalbach ; and four others, who are now deceased. After marriage Mr. Meiser settled upon the family homestead, which by this time was a well improved farm. Here he engaged in agriculture extensively, and by hard work and wise management added both to the value of the land and the build- ings. He was progressive and practical, and an authority among agricultur- ists. He died in 1876.
George S. Meiser was born on the family homestead, August 20, 1822, and there he grew to manhood. In the old time subscription schools he pro- cured his education, receiving thorough and practical drill in the rudiments. Reared to farm work, upon reaching manhood he naturally chose that occu- pation, and evinced from the start much inherent ability in the line. In 1850 Mr. Meiser married Mary Eby, of South Lebanon township, who was born July 6, 1830, daughter of Jacob Eby, who descended from old families of Lancaster and Lebanon counties. Mrs. Meiser was a devoted wife and noble Christian woman. She died in 1894. By this union there were three children : (I) George, who is now deceased, married and had a son George, who now resides in Newark, N. J. (2) Sarah married Penrose Seltzer, and they re- side upon the Meiser homestead, where he is engaged in speculating in live stock. Of this union there has been one child, Minnie, who married J. A. Zug, of Womelsdorf, and they have one daughter, Mary J. (3) Alice married John Brendle.
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After marriage Mr. Meiser settled upon the old Michael Meiser home- stead, and followed agriculture along the lines established by his father. He studied the art of economizing labor, and every effort he put forth told for good. The well-tilled fields produced abundant and seasonable crops, which commanded the highest market prices. Other branches of his industry were not neglected and his dairy was especially fine. Having made well out of his industry, about twenty-five years ago he retired from active work, and has since been enjoying the fruits of the labors of former years.
Mr. Meiser has long been an influential man in the township. As a strong Democrat he has evinced an active interest in local politics, and he has voted fifteen different times for president, the first time in 1840. As a man of firm religious convictions, he has belonged to the Millbach Reformed Church for fully sixty years, where he has filled the offices of deacon and elder with marked ability and fidelity. Having been a strong man mentally, morally and physi- cally all his life, now in his eighty-third year he is in full possession of his faculties, his mind being active and his memory retentive.
NOAH P. WALBORN, one of tlie honorable citizens and thrifty farmers of North Jackson township, occupying one of the fine farms of Lebanon county, located within one mile of Myerstown's northern limit, was born November 18, 1842, in Stouchsburg, Berks county, a son of Peter D. and Lydia (Zeller) Walborn, of Berks county.
Peter Walborn, the father of Noah P., was a son of Leonard Walborn, whose father doubtless came to America from Germany and settled in this part of the State in the early days of its settlement. The children born to. Leonard Walborn have all passed away with the exception of Daniel, and were: John, Leonard, Andrew, Peter, Daniel, Elizabeth and Esther. Three children were born to Peter D. Walborn and wife, namely: Isabella, the wife of M. K. Frantz; Noah P. and Edward Z. Peter D. Walborn was a lifelong Democrat, and was one of the industrious and thrifty farmers of his locality. For many years he was a leading member of the Lutheran Church.
Noah P. Walborn was reared on his father's farm in Berks county, and obtained his education in the common schools. His interest has always been centered in farming, hence his success in this line, few agriculturists of his vicinity being more practical in their methods, or more satisfactory in their results, than Mr. Walborn. In young manhood he started out to make his own way in the world, and that he now owns two fine, well-im- proved farms, one containing 174 and the other sixty-five acres of most
472 BIOGRAPHICAL ANNALS OF LEBANON COUNTY.
excellent, productive land, is but the result of close application, economy and a sober, temperate life. Although Mr. Walborn has reached the age of sixty years, he still is actively operating his land and looking after his affairs with all the vigor and capacity of other years.
On May 17, 1862, Mr. Walborn was married to Eliza Mosser, born August 18, 1837, daughter of John and Sallie (Sheetz) Mosser, old and honorable residents of Lebanon county. She died December 30, 1890, the mother of eight children, as follows: Henry, deceased; Noah P., Jr .. a farmer of Jackson township; Samuel E., of Myerstown; Sallie, wife of Frank Kauffman, a farmer of Jackson township; Lydia R., at home; Jolin J., a farmer at home; Mary, at home; and Emma E., wife of Harvey Steiner. of Lebanon .city. Like his father, Mr. Walborn has always been identified with the Democratic party, and has served his district for three years as school director and is recognized as a useful and representative citizen of his township. For many years he has been an elder, trustee and deacon in the Lutheran Church.
The Mosser family, to which Mrs. Walborn belonged, is well-known in Pennsylvania. Her father was born in 1799, and her mother, June 9th. in the same year, and they had a family of seven children born to them, of whom Maria, Aaron and Rebecca are the only survivors. Grandfather Michael Mosser came to America from Germany and the family has been known in this State for 150 years.
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REV. HERVIN ULYSSES ROOP, A. B., A. M., PH. D., president of the Lebanon Valley College, Annville, Pa., a native of Dauphin county, was born November 16, 1868, near Highspire, Pa., on a farm where he passed the early years of his life. Dr. Roop is a son of Henry J. and Justina M. (Backenstoe) Roop, the latter of whom was born in 1848, and died in 1881. Rev. Jacob Roop, the great-grandfather of Dr. Roop, was a native of Germany and a pioneer preacher of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ in Lebanon county. His son, Christian Roop, was reared in Dauphin county, as was also Dr. Roop's father. After a successful agri- cultural career, the latter lives retired in his new home in Highspire.
Dr. Roop attended the public schools of his native town and the Steelton (Pa.) high school, from which he graduated. He then taught public school three years in Highspiree, saved some money with which to go to the Lebanon Valley College, and graduated therefrom with the degree of Bachelor of Arts with high honors. Two years later he also received the degree of Master of Arts from his Alma Mater. Being diligent, studious and ambitious, Dr.
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Roop matriculated as a post-graduate student in philosophy and pedagogy in the University of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio, where he received the degree of Master of Arts, upon rigid examinations in 1894. and that of Doctor of Philosophy, cum laude, in 1895. Dr. Roop also studied in Clark University, Worcester, Mass., Cornell University, and later spent two years in the resi- dent study of philosophy, pedagogy and English literature in the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Roop entered the ministry of the United Brethren Church in 1890, and became a member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference. During his connection of three years as a professor with the Shippensburg State Normal School he taught classes in English, history, pedagogy, Latin, Greek, German and French. He taught one year in the Rittenhouse Academy in Phila- delphia, Pa., and then was asked by Hon. John Wanamaker to become the first State Superintendent of the Normal Department of the Pennsylvania State Sabbath School Association. This position Dr. Roop accepted, and labored in it for almost two years during which time he organized the Normal Training work for Sabbath School teachers throughout Pennsylvania. In this work Dr. Roop was engaged when he received the urgent call to become the president of the Lebanon Valley College and the Professor of Philosophy, June 14, 1897. This position the Doctor accepted, and since then has been filling it with remarkable ability, being especially strong as an organizer. financier and teacher. He is the first alumnus of the college to be president, and when elected, was one of the youngest, if not the youngest college pres- ident in the United States.
Dr. Roop came to the rescue of the college, and has given it standing and prestige among educators. During his administration this institution has been prospering. The old buildings have been remodeled and enlarged, a fine brownstone music hall, and a commodious gymnasium have been erected, and an athletic field of six acres, enclosed and fitted up for all phases of athletics, has been purchased. The assets have been increased to $175.000, the faculty of the college has been completely reorganized, en- larged and strengthened, the courses of study thoroughly revised and expanded, the Group system of studies being now in vogue. each group leading to the A. B. degree, and the enrollment of students has increased from 125 to 451.
Dr. Roop is a member of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia: of the Lebanon County Historical Society ; and is one of the nine members of the Board of Education of the United Brethren Church of the World. His deep learning and scholarly style have
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made him a welcome contributor to religious and educational periodicals. He is also much in demand as a public speaker and institute lecturer.
On August 26, 1897, Dr. Roop was married to Emma May Kephart, daughter of Bishop and Mrs. E. B. Kephart, of Baltimore, Md., and the one daughter born of this union bears the name of Margaret Kephart Roop.
CYRUS L. BEHNEY. a retired farmer of Myerstown, and one of the leading representative men of the community, was born in Marion township, Berks Co., Pa., December 25, 1840, son of Augustus and Anna Mary (Loose) Behney.
Thomas Behney, the first of the family in America, is supposed to have emigrated from Germany about 150 years ago, and one of his sons, Chris- topher, the grandfather of Cyrus, had the following family: Augustus, William, Isaac, Henry, Jacob, Eliza (who married David Lengle, of Ohio), Malinda (who married Amos Berntheisler), and Mary ( who married John Spangler). Christopher Behney was one of the old settlers of Lebanon county, where he farmed and dealt in cattle and horses. living to the extreme age of eighty-five years.
Augustus Behney married, in 1838, Anna Mary Loose, daughter of John Loose, of Berks county. He was born in Tulpehocken township, Berks county, in 1815, and died in 1878. His family consisted of eight children, seven of whom grew to maturity: Cyrus L .; Isaac (twin to Cyrus L.), who died at the age of fifty-two years; Augustus, of Myerstown; Sarah, widow of Dentist Ezra Kilmer, of Myerstown; Rebecca, wife of Jonathan Swope, of Berks county ; Henry, of New Jersey; and Loranna, who married E. L. Bleistine, a grain dealer of Myerstown. Mrs. Behney was born in 1819, and died in 1901, and both she and her husband are deeply mourned by their family, as well as by a wide circle of warm friends, and the memory of their many kind and charitable deeds lives after them.
Cyrus L. Behney was reared upon a farm, receiving his education in the public schools, and followed an agricultural life until 1901, when he retired, and now is enjoying the fruits of his industry. On December 3, 1864, he married Miss Amelia C. Bordner, of Berks county, daughter of David and Dena (Houtz) Bordner, also of Berks county, born October 2, 1839, and died January 4, 1900. Two children were born to this union : Calvin, of Reading; and Lizzie, who married George D. Coover, of the Myerstown Enterprise. Mrs. Behney was one of a family of nine children. namely : Amelia ; Priscilla: William; Edward: Isabella; Peter W .; Eliza- beth; Isaac and Adam.
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Mr. Behney is possessed of considerable property, owning three fine farms, one of 130 acres in North Lebanon township: one of 55 acres in North Jackson township; and one of 120 acres in Bethel township, Berks county ; as well as one of the handsome and comfortable residences of Myers- town. All of this property has been accumulated through hard, untiring efforts, directed intelligently along proper channels. Mir. Behney has been an industrious man, sober and temperate, and is a consistent member of the Reformed Church. He has ever been active in the welfare of the church of his faith; for a number of years lie has served as treasurer and trustee of the same. His political opinions make him a stanch Democrat, but he has never aspired to office.
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