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 6
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John Young was a stanch Republican, and a member of the Union or rather Independent Church, being an exhorter and teacher for many years. He was a self-made man, honest, and true to his convictions. He had at the time of his death accumulated a small fortune. His widow resides at her home, No. 638 Chestnut street, Labanon. Mrs. Young is a member of the Zion Lutheran Church, and a noble Christian woman.
SAMUEL WEISS, M. D. Among the representative members of the medical profession in Lebanon, none stand higher in public esteem than does Dr. Samuel Weiss, who was born August 20, 1845, in South Lebanon town- ship, Lebanon county, son of Samuel and Sarah (Smith) Weiss, both natives of the same county.
Samuel Weiss, the father, was born in 1800, son of Henry Weiss, who was a resident of Lebanon county near Schaefferstown, and died in 1886. The mother of Dr. Weiss was a daughter of Henry Smith, a well-known resi- dent of Cornwall, Lebanon county. These parents had a family of seven children, four of whom still survive. Mr. and Mrs. Weiss were highly re- spected people, and were members of the United Brethren Church.
Dr. Weiss was reared on his father's farm, and until he was eighteen years of age devoted his winters to study in the public schools and his sum- mers to farm work, developing in this manner both mind and body. Ambitious to enter wider fields of usefulness. the young man spent one year in the Lebanon Academy, while it was under the scholarly care of Cyrus Boger, and supplemented this with two years at the Millersville State Normal School. In April, 1867, he first turned his attention to medicine, entering
Saml. weiss
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upon a course of study with Dr. William M. Guilford, of Lebanon, where he prepared for entrance to Bellevue Medical College, New York City, graduating with credit four years later.
In 1872 Dr. Weiss located for practice in Lebanon, and his services have been in active demand ever since. His capacity was recognized by his appoint- ment to the position of county physician, a position of responsibility which he held for fifteen years ( with but one year's intermission ), during which time he served with great efficiency.
Dr. Weiss has been prominently identified with State politics, for a number of years. His personal following is large, and his popularity led to his selection in 1900, by the anti-Quay people of Lebanon county, to stand for State Senator, of the Seventeenth Senatorial District of Pennsylvania. to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Gen. J. P. S. Gobin, who be- came a candidate for Lieutenant-governor. The political history of the canvass all over the State, at this time, tells of much party and factional feeling, and in Lebanon county the result was waited for with interest all over the State. Current history records the attitude of the various factions in regard to Senator M. S. Quay, and the party to which Dr. Weiss was attached did good work in the county canvass. Doubtless it was on account of the reali- zation of the peculiar fitness of Dr. Weiss for the high honor, that caused his triumph, for he was elected Senator by a majority of between 2.300 and 2,400, although many of the Quay men did not vote against him. When Senator Quay came up in the United States Senatorial contest, Dr. Weiss conscientiously opposed his election. Dr. Weiss's ability has been recognized by the administrative body by his selection for the following committees : Appropriations, Banks and Building and Loan Associations; Educational ; Forestry, Game and Fisheries; Pensions and Gratuities: and Public Health and Sanitation.
Dr. Weiss has been connected with many enterprises of a financial nature in his city and for a time was a director in the People's National Bank, resigning from the same. He is at present a director in the Valley National Bank of Lebanon. As a progressive and thorough physician and skillful surgeon, Dr. Weiss enjoys an enviable reputation. He was the first surgeon in Lebanon county to perform ovariotomy, and has kept in touch with all modern discoveries, being generally regarded as a leader in the pro- fession. Since its establishment. he has been surgeon and a member of the gynecological staff of the Good Samaritan Hospital of this city.
In 1889 Dr. Weiss was united in marriage with Miss Zitella McCauly, of Lebanon.
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JOHN K. REINOEHL, A. M., M. D. The issues of life and death constitute important and grave responsibility and no one who has ever stood beside the sick bed and watched with agonizing expectancy every motion of the physician as he diagnoses the case can fail to estimate this responsibility at its value. An honest physician is in some respects the noblest work of creation ; and when with honesty is coupled profound therapeutic knowledge the combination is indeed a happy one.
Dr. John K. Reinoehl (deceased), one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Lebanon for twenty years, and a gentleman whose sterling integrity, broad culture and genial personality caused his selection for political preferment, was a native of Lebanon, having been born in the city August 3, 1858, a son of George H. and Mary A. (Krause) Reinoehl. The latter was born September 21, 1834, and still survives her husband. The Reinoelils were Lebanon county people as early as the present day record vouches, the first recorded name being George Reinoehl, the great-grandfather of our deceased subject. His son, Samuel. was born in the village in the year 1800, and died in 1866. The father of Dr. Reinoehl was born March 18, 1835, and died March 23, 1898.
Dr. Reinoehl's youth was passed amid gentle home environment, and careful direction was given to his early training, both as to general culture and specific education. The excellent school system of the city grounded him thoroughly in the "three R's" and the Swatara Institute prepared him for his college course at Muhlenberg. From this latter excellent school he was graduated with distinction in 1879, with the degree of Master of Arts. Deciding on medicine as a profession he began a course of reading with the late Dr. George P. Lineweaver and in due time matriculated at the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. The diploma of this institution was issued him in 1882, and he immediately opened an office in his native city. His success was most marked from the beginning. Dr. Reinoehl was at home in the field of general therapeutics and also established an enviable reputation as a deft manipulator of the surgeon's knife. His practice was extensive and largely in counsel.
Dr. Reinoehl had a fine conception of the duties of an American citizen, and was therefore always found ready to do his share of the unremunerative labor necessary in every municipality. His fine ability soon marked him for higher service, and he was sent to the Legislature in 1892, and again in 1894, in that body acquitting himself with great satisfaction to his constituents. As stated our deceased subject took great interest in the local affairs of the city. In his younger manhood he served five years in the Pennsylvania
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National Guard. In 1883-85 and 1889-91 he was coroner's physician of the county. On the city board of health he gave good service in 1885-86 and 1890-91. In 1889 he received the appointment of secretary to the United States Board of Examining Surgeons, a position which he resigned in 1892 to enter upon his legislative duties.
Fraternally Dr. Reinoehl was a prominent Mason, a Knight Templar of Hermit Commandery, and secretary of the Royal Arcanum. He was a mem- ber and strong supporter of the Lutheran church, and was charitable to a fault. He belonged to the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, being a charter member of the chapter of Muhlenberg College, and also belonging at the University of Pennsylvania.
Miss Emma M. Dillon and Dr. Reinoelil were married in Philadelphia November 27, 1884. Mrs. Reinoehl is a daughter of Thomas H. and Cath- erine Dillon, and was born in Philadelphia September 11, 1868. To this union came three bright children : John K., Jr., born July 7, 1886; Mildred, born July 7, 1896, died August 5, 1896; Irene, born September 10, 1898.
The death of Dr. Reinoehl was the result of an accident, and occurred July 10, 1902. In this event the community suffered an irreparable loss, the medical fraternity lost one of its brightest members, and the home a kind and indulgent husband and father.
WILLIAM LONG KREIDER, one of the leading citizens of Palmyra, Lebanon county, comes from a long line of honorable ancestry. Going as far back as Jacob Kreider, the great-grandfather of William L., we find that he was born in Lancaster county, and was a descendant of one of four brothers of the name who had emigrated either from Germany or Switzerland. Jacob married in his neighborhood and settled on Snitz. Creek, below Lebanon, in what is now North Cornwall township, but at that time was Lebanon town- ship, in Lancaster county.
Henry Kreider, son of Jacob, was born on the old homestead on Snitz Creek, September 25, 1774, and died April 9, 1835. He married Christianna Wittemeyer, daughter of Ludwig Wittemeyer, born August 3, 1777, and died August 3, 1864.
Jacob Kreider, son of Henry, was born in 1812, in South Lebanon town- ship, and died in 1874. He married Mary Long, born in 1819, on the old Long homestead in South Annville township, daughter of Joseph Long, and died in 1889. The maternal grandfather, Joseph Long, was a son of Christian (3), son of Christian (2). a son of the Christian Long who took up 400 acres of land from the Penns, which was then located in the boundaries
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of Lancaster county, but which is now included in Lebanon county, and a part of which is now owned by Joseph L. Kreider. The children of Jacob and Mary (Long) Kreider were: Joseph L., of North Cornwall township; Henry L., of Cleona, Pa .; W. L., of Palmyra: Abraham L., of the State of Washington; Benjamin, of Cleona; and Sarah, the wife of Adam Moyer, of Palmyra.
William Long Kreider was born September 26, 1838, on the farm now owned by Andrew Kreider, on the Berks and Dauphin turnpike, in South Annville township, Lebanon county. He was reared on the farm, attending the common schools and the old Annville Academy. His young manhood was spent mainly on the farm, although he was also occupied in other ways, spending two years as a clerk with Christian Hoverter and one year with Killinger & Kinports, at Annville. He operated a fulling mill on his father's land for two years. In 1864 he married, and in the next year removed to the farm of his father-in-law, David Wilhelm, at Palmyra, and in the succeeding fall built a store building and dwelling house at Palmyra. Here Mr. Kreider engaged in a mercantile business with his brother, Abraham. Both were men of business ability, and they soon realized the convenience of their location as to transportation, and in 1866 they bought the grain warehouse, coal siding, etc., from Martin Early, and combined all their lines of business. In the spring of 1867 they sold the mercantile line to Jerome and Michael Deininger, but continued in the coal and grain business for a number of years. Later Abraham withdrew in order to enter upon grain brokerage in Chicago, and was succeeded by his brother Henry, although he retained his half interest in the property. When he returned to Palmyra, he, with Henry, took charge of this business, William retiring from active participation, but still retaining his half-interest in the property. For a few years he then engaged in farming. but later bought out the warehouse business and resumed operations in grain and coal, subsequently taking his son, David A., into partnership, under the firm name of W. L. Kreider & Son. About four years later they went out of the business, renting the warehouse to Jacob Landis & Son. For the succeeding two or three years, Mr. Kreider engaged in no active business, but in 1888, when the first shoe factory was organized in Palmyra, he became a director, and later served the company for two years as president. Later he withdrew from this company and in 1891 built a shoe factory near the rail- road station, with dimensions of 32x50 feet, which were doubled in 1893. In 1895 it was found necessary, on account of the great growth of the business, to build the two additions of 3.4x50 feet, three stories high, and in 1897, they added a three-story building of 30x65 feet. The combined floor space is more
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than 24,000 feet, and the factory turns out infants', children's and misses' turned shoes, mocassins and soft soles, employing from 175 to 200 skilled hands. The territory covered by sales is mainly the Middle West, although purchasers come from California and Utah. Mr. Kreider is a man of so much business ability that he is able to operate many lines, and all successfully. In 1897 he added a flouring mill of 125 barrels capacity a day to the grain warehouse, which is now operated by John S. Bomberger & Son. Other enterprises in which he is interested are: the Londonderry Water Company, of which he has been president since its organization ; and the Lebanon & Annville Electric Railway Company, of which he was one of the first directors. For a time he was a director in the Palmyra Bank. Mr. Kreider also owned a lumber yard, and erected a planing-mill which he sold to W. H. Erb some two years ago. Much of the desirable residence portion of East Palmyra has been his prop- erty, and he laid it out into town lots, and erected about twenty-five of the comfortable and attractive residences. He has always dealt extensively in real estate, and in 1890, in company with Henry H. Long, bought a tract of forty acres from Michael Kreider. They platted the same, and started the town of Cleona, on the Pennsylvania & Reading Railroad, building a large warehouse, where they handled coal and lumber ; the town now has a popula- tion of some 200 people.
In 1864, Mr. Kreider married Catherine Wilhelm, who was born March 9, 1846, on the Gravel Hill road, Palmyra, daughter of David and Fanny (Deininger) Wilhelm, the former of whom was born near the old New Market forge and the latter on the same farm as her daughter, which is the old Benjamin Deininger farm. Children as follows blessed this union : David A., born July 15, 1866; William H., December 22, 1869; Mary A., February 3, 1873 (died October 21, 1881) ; Harry Clayton, September 1, 1875; Katie M., April 17, 1878 (married Eugene Bowman, cashier of the Palmyra Bank) ; and Edwin Franklin and Fanny Violet, twins, September 16, 1883, of whom Fanny died January 2, 1887, and Edwin, January II, 1888. The three sons, David A., William H. and Harry Clayton, are all interested with their father in the shoe manufacturing business, under the firm name of W. L. Kreider's Sons. Mr. and Mrs. Kreider are valued members of the River Brethren Church. In politics he is a Republican.
DAVID A. KREIDER, one of the substantial men of Palmyra, was born in Palmyra, July 15, 1866, and received his education in the common schools of that city, and at the Reading Business College. In the spring of 1886, he embarked in a coal, grain and lumber business with his father, but two years
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later, established a general store in Palmyra, and operated it alone. After about eighteen months, however, he again entered the coal, grain and lumber branch of commercial activity, locating at Cleona, Pa., just after that town had been laid out, and before any buildings had been erected. Mr. Kreider built and then sold to the new residents a number of pleasant homes, and was largely instrumental in the establishment of the prosperity of the place. Later, he returned to the farm at Palmyra, and for some time was employed in attending to it and erecting some eight or ten houses in his vicinity.
The next occupation of Mr. Kreider was that of clerk in the Kreider shoe factory, and occasionally he went upon the road as a traveling man. This continued for about a year, when he purchased the planing mill and lumber yard of W. H. Erb, and the following year, he and his father bought the coal and grain business of J. Landis & Son. The planing mill was rented to W. H. Erb, but he and his father continued the coal and grain business for two years, and then began operating the new flouring mill also. However, a year later, the flouring mill was rented to Hoffer & Stauffer. After a few months spent in well-earned rest, Mr. Kreider became the fourth member of the firm of W. L. Kreider & Sons, shoe manufacturers, which style was changed, June 12, 1900, to that of W. L. Kreider's Sons, upon the retirement of the senior member. Mr. David A. Kreider attends to the business of the office as well as the purchasing, and is a very energetic young man of excellent ability.
David Kreider married Minnie Erb, daughter of Isaac Erb, formerly a coal and lumber dealer of Swatara Station. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Kreider were: Willie E., David, Minnie, Irwin, Paul, Harry, Ruth, Ray- mond and Violet Edith, the last named dying at the age of three years, three months and three days. Mr. Kreider is a consistent member of the River Brethren Church, and he and his family are important factors in the social life of Palmyra.
WILLIAM H. KREIDER, one of the leading young business men of Palmyra, and a member of the firm of W. L. Kreider's Sons, was born in Palmyra December 22, 1869, a son of William L. Kreider, an extended sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. The boyhood days of our subject were spent in Palmyra, where he received a liberal education in the public schools and at the Palmyra Academy. After completing his educa- tion he first worked upon his father's farm, and then entered his father's employ, when the latter was successfully conducting a grain business at Pal- myra, remaining in that line until 1887, when he entered the Palmyra Boot
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and Shoe factory, and worked at the bench for three years, learning the business thoroughly. He was promoted until he became foreman for the company, and held that position for two years, when he resigned to enter the shoe factory of his father, the latter having in the meanwhile embarked in this line of commercial activity. One year later the young man was made a member of the firm. In addition to his interest in the shoe business Mr. Kreider is a director in the Londonderry Water Company. While deeply immersed in his business cares, Mr. Kreider ardently supports the principles of the Republican party, and is a man who enjoys in highest degree the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens.
On December 25, 1890, Mr. Kreider was married to Susie E., daughter of John K. and Elizabeth E. Landis. Mrs. Kreider was born at Lyonsville, Dauphin county, near Palmyra. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kreider: Elizabeth M., born October 3, 1891; Edwin F., born July 3, 1893; Catherine P., born September 24, 1898. The religious affiliations of Mr. Kreider are with the United Brethren Church, of which he is a trustee, and to which he is a liberal contributor.
BERNHARD RAUCH (deceased) was one of the pioneer citizens of Lebanon, and was born in 1801, and died September 22, 1882. He spent his boyhood days on the farm and learned the trade of a wool dyer. On April 29, 1827, he was married to Miss Jane Brown, of Colebrook, Lebanon County, who was born in 1805, and lived to a good old age. They had ten children, six of whom grew to maturity. We have record of the following : John H., born in 1828, is deceased; Sarah, born in 1830, lives in Lebanon ; Elizabeth, born in 1833, is deceased; Louisa, born in 1835, is deceased; Mary Anne, born in 1838, is deceased; Miss Margaret J., born July 18, 1839, now resides in Lebanon; William, born January 11, 1842, is a shirt-maker in the city of Lebanon ; Cyrus G., born in 1844, is now a partner with his brother, William, as a shirt manufacturer. Mr. Rauch was a Democrat and a mem- ber of the Reformed Church, being one of the leading members. He was a director of the First National and Valley National Banks of Lebanon, and also served as school director.
Mr. Rauch started out in life a poor boy with no money, but by hard toil and economy he left considerable property at the time of his death. He was respected for his honesty and integrity, and possessed a splendid moral character, was a good citizen and was well liked by all who knew him. A man with a big heart, he was good and kind to the poor and much devoted to his family. He never catered for notoriety, much preferring to lead a
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quiet humble life. He left behind him a large family and a host of friends to mourn his loss. Sarah and Margaret J. Rauch reside in their well fur- nished home at No. 132 South Eighth street, where they have been living retired since the death of their father. They are members of the Reformed Church of the city of Lebanon, and in younger life were among the active members and teachers in the Sunday School.
LEE LIGHT GRUMBINE, lawyer and journalist, was born in Freder- icksburg, Lebanon county, July 25, 1858. His early ancestry emigrated to America from the Rhine country about the year 1755, and his genealogy connects him with the early Moravian settlements in eastern Pennsylvania, through his paternal great-grandfather, Peter Fuehrer, who was a Moravian teacher among the pioneer settlers of the New World.
Mr. Grumbine was educated in the public schools, Palatinate College and Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., graduating A. B. from the last named institution in 1881. In 1884 he received the degree of A. M. from his alma mater. While in college he began the work of giving public elocution- ary entertainments which he has kept up as a diversion ever since, varying it with lecturing and teachers' institute work. In 1886 he was chosen instructor of elocution in Cornell University, but through some misunderstanding never entered upon the duties of the position.
After leaving college, Mr. Grumbine engaged in teaching, and in the meantime studied law, being admitted to the Bar of Lebanon County in 1884, and to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1887. For seven years he practiced law, a part of the time as a member of the firm of Gobin & Grum- bine. Leaving the practice of the law temporarily he turned his attention to literary work and founded the Lebanon Daily Report.
Mr. Grumbine's career has been one of great versatility along various lines, and it must be said that whatever he has attempted he has carried through successfully. His chief work of course has been that of a lawyer. Quiet and unobtrusive in manner, independent in conduct even to aggressive- ness, without the employment of the arts of the politician, or the seeker of favor, he has, by sheer force of his character, ability and rectitude of life, com- manded a leading position at the Bar of his county, and enjoys the confidence of a large clientage. He served continuously for many years as a member of the examining board of the Bar.
As a journalist he made a brilliant record in the short time that he was engaged in that work. He, in conjunction with the Sowers Brothers, who were conducting a printing house, founded the Lebanon Daily Report in
Sincerely yours, Les L. Grumbine.
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November, 1889, and he was for four years its editor, guiding hand and part owner. Conducted on thoroughly independent lines, in the public interest, it at once became a recognized force in Pennsylvania journalism, his edi- torials being frequently quoted in the metropolitan press. Under his manage- ment it was foremost in reform, the dread of evil doers and machine poli- ticians. Among the more prominent achievements of the Report during Mr. Grumbine's editorship was the establishment of the Pennsylvania Chautauqua at Mount Gretna, and of the Pennsylvania-German Society. In the famous Swallow campaign, in 1898 he took editorial charge of the Harrisburg Commonwealth, a Prohibition daily printed at the State capital, and always stood very closely to Dr. Swallow in his memorable fights against the saloon and the Quay machine. He was also one of defendant's counsel in the libel suits brought against Dr. Swallow. He resumed the practice of the law in 1894, and has been prominent in many of the leading cases of the county.
Another field of activity in which the subject of this sketch has won distinction is that of literature and public speaking. He is a vigorous, con- vincing and yet graceful writer on many subjects, and has contributed a number of valuable papers to different periodicals. He is the author of a volume of poems and translations, which illustrate a prefatory treatise on the Pennsylvania-German language-a study of its status as a spoken dialect and form of literary expression with reference to its capabilities and limitations. His verses both in English and German breathe a genuine poetic spirit, and as lyric songs and pictures of Pennsylvania-German life give the writer the rank of a real poet. He is a recognized authority on the Pennsylvania-German dialect, and has made a close study of the provincialisms of eastern Penn- sylvania, having their origin in German idioms and expressions, which he has frequently treated in lectures. An article on the same subject was read before the American Philological Association, of which he was for years a member. He has also in course of preparation a history of the Mennonites, which he is writing for the Pennsylvania-German Society, and which will be published by the Society as soon as finished. Another book in course of publication at this writing is a volume of public speeches on the liquor traffic to be issued by the State Executive Committee of the Prohibition party. A number of these have been published as campaign documents and distributed over the State by the hundred thousand. As a public speaker he has been very suc- cessful.
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