USA > Pennsylvania > Book of biographies; This volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of the Seventeenth congressional district, Pennsylvania > Part 16
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In politics our subject is independent and has served in minor township offices; relig- iously he and his wife are members of the Christian Church.
R. JOHN C. RUTTER, one of the oldest and highly-respected citizens of Bloomsburg, located in the town in 1855 and began the practice of his profes- sion. Not only his own success depended on his efforts in this field, but that of the Homeo- pathic School as well, for he was the first Homeopathic physician in Columbia County and the only one in the town of Bloomsburg for a period of twenty-five years following. He was a faithful student of his profession
and prosperity has been his reward, as no physician in the community ever handled so large a practice.
Our subject was born near the city of Wil- mington, Del., December 12, 1826, and is a son of Thomas and Sarah (Baker) Rutter. His grandfather was Joshua Rutter who with his brother, Thomas, came from England to this country previous to 1790. Thomas be- came a merchant of Baltimore, Md. Joshua Rutter bought a farm near the city of Balti- more where he spent the remainder of his days in agricultural pursuits.
Thomas Rutter, the father of our subject, was born on the old homestead farm in 1792 and followed the occupation of a farmer his entire life. Later in life he settled near Ches- ter, Pa., where his latter days were spent, dy- ing in the year 1848. He formed a matri- monial alliance with Sarah Baker, a daughter of John and Lydia (Marks) Baker of Wil- mington, New Castle County, Del. This union resulted in the following issue: John C., a record of whose life is here given; Elizabeth, widow of Daniel Crowther; Margery, widow of a Mr. Holt; Mary, wife of a Mr. Taylor; William, who died at an early age; Joshua, who is interested in cotton works in the state of Delaware; and Thomas, whose death oc- curred in youth. Mrs. Rutter is yet living at the age of eighty-seven years.
Dr. John C. Rutter attended the public schools until he was fourteen years of age. Three years later he went to Wilmington. Del., where he accepted a clerical position. At the age of twenty years he took up the study of medicine under the tutelage of Dr. Caleb Harlan of Wilmington and later at- tended the Homeopathic Medical College of Philadelphia, which is now known as the Hahnemann Medical College. In the month of May, following his graduation from the
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above-mentioned institution on March 3, 1855, he removed to Bloomsburg where he has since practiced medicine.
Dr. Rutter and Jane Clayton, a daughter of John and Ann (Perkins) Clayton, were mar- ried August 26, 1848, and a record of their children is as follows: Lamartine, who mar- ried Lydia Rodemoyer, and who resides near Bellefonte, Pa .; Henry Harlan, proprietor of the Muncy Democrat of Luzerne County, was a member of the State Legislature from that county in 1894 and 1895, and chose Eva Cloud as his companion in life; Dr. Everett Webster, a practicing physician of Freeland, Luzerne County; Mary Ellen, widow of Dr. D. W. Conners of Wilkesbarre, Pa .; Adah Louisa, who married Newton W. Barton; Margaret, who is at home; Rachel M., de- ceased, who was the wife of Dr. C. B. Frantz; and John C., who married Hattie McKelvy, and is connected with the editorial depart- ment of The Democratic Sentinel of Blooms- burg. Politically our subject is a member of the Democratic party and has served for many years on the board of pension examiners. He attends the Episcopal Church, of which his family are members.
APTAIN HARRISON J. CONNER. There is, perhaps, nothing of which a man may be more excusably proud than of gallant service in the cause of his country, nor is there any service which lives longer in the grateful memory of a peo- ple. Capt. Conner was among those who early offered their services to their country in its hour of peril and who never deserted their post until a peace crowned their efforts. He is one of the highly respected citizens of Orangeville, Pa., and was born in that town December 9, 1841, and is a son of Isaiah and
Catherine R. (Millard) Conner, and a grand- son of John Conner.
The Conner family is of Irish origin, and John Conner, the grandfather of our subject. located in Center township, Columbia Coun- ty, Pa., and, building a large tannery, he engaged in tanning, which business he con- ducted in connection with farming. He passed from this life in 1862 at the age of eighty years. He was the progenitor of a large fam- ily of children.
Isaiah Conner, the father of our subject, was born in Center township, Columbia Coun- ty, Pa., in 1812, and his younger days were spent working in the tannery owned by his father. Upon attaining his manhood he moved to Orangeville, Columbia County, where he successfully engaged in the tannery business until his death, which occurred in 1855 at the age of forty-two years. Mr. Con- ner was married to Catherine R. Millard, a daughter of Reece Millard, late a farmer of Briarcreek. now Center township. To this union the following children were born: Har- rison J., the subject of this sketch; Anna Rebecca, deceased; Clara, deceased; Millard, a prominent resident of Orangeville; and William T., who died aged thirty years.
Capt. Conner received his intellectual train- ing in the public schools of his native town and at Millville Academy at Millville, Pa., and after his father's death he became connected with the tannery industry and continued that line of business until the breaking out of the Civil War. Being inspired by patriotic feel- ing, he offered his services in defense of the Union, and April 22, 1861, enlisted as a pri- vate in Company A, 6th Reg., Pa. Reserves. His patriotic ardor found full vent on many a hard-contested field of battle where he was eager to discharge his full duty. Our subject took part in all the engagements of the Army
HON. MONROE H. KULP.
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of the Potomac, the most prominent of which were the battles at Dranesville, Va., Decem- ber 20, 1861; Second Bull Run, August 29- 30-31, 1862; South Mountain, Md., Septem- ber 14, 1862; Antietam, September 17, 1862; Fredericksburg, Va., December 13, 1862; Gettysburg, Pa., July 1-3, 1863; New Hope Church; Wilderness; Cold Harbor; and Bethesda Church. On September 25, 1862, he was appointed second lieutenant, in which position he served until his discharge. He re- ceived an honorable discharge at Harrisburg, Pa., June II, 1864. In January; 1865, he was appointed first lieutenant of Company G, 3d Reg., U. S. Vet. Vol., Hancock's Ist Army Corps, but was later promoted to captain, and was connected with Hancock's Corps which was retained at Washington after the close of the war. At the close of his military career he spent two years traveling through the West and then returned to Orangeville, where he has since been engaged in various kinds of business. He was one of the organizers of the Bloomsburg & Sullivan Railroad, and is a member and secretary of the board of direc- tors.
In politics Capt. Conner is a stanch Repub- lican and in 1881 he was elected justice of the peace and has held that office to the present time. He is a past commander of Ent Post, G. A. R., of Bloomsburg, and is now a mem- ber of Pealer Post, No. 435, G. A. R., of Orangeville; and is past master of Orange- ville Lodge, No. 460, F. & A. M.
ON. MONROE H. KULP, ex-Con- gressman from the Seventeenth Congressional District of Penn- sylvania, and a man of large and varied busi- ness interests throughout the state, is a son of the late Darlington R. and Elizabeth (Gil-
bert) Kulp, and was born October 23. 1858, in Barto, Berks County, Pa.
Darlington R. Kulp was one of the most successful lumber dealers in Northumberland County. He was born in Philadelphia, Pa., November 29, 1826, and was a son of Christian and Catharine (Renninger) Kulp, natives of Pennsylvania, the former of Montgomery and the latter of Berks County. Both spent their lives in Eastern Pennsylvania, where they lived to the ages of seventy-three and eighty- three years, respectively. The Kulp family is of Holland origin, and were among the carly settlers of Pennsylvania, whose thrifty, frugal and industrial habits are so vividly out- lined in the history of the early growth of the state. D. R. Kulp was reared near Potts- town, Montgomery County, where he at- tended the district schools at intervals, receiv- ing a very limited education. He learned the carpenter's trade, and early engaged in the lumber business. On October 5, 1851, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Gil- bert, daughter of George and Sallie (Houck) Gilbert of Montgomery County. She was born in New Hanover, Montgomery County, and bore her husband twelve children, eight of whom were living but a short time ago, as follows : Zipporah, wife of Chester B. Thomas of Shamokin; Joanna Catharine, widow of Edwin Shuman; Monroe H .; Clayton A .; Ella J .; Chester G .; Howard C .; and Gilbert G., all residents of Shamokin. In October, 1867, Mr. Kulp removed to Shamokin and continued the lumber business in partnership with D. S. Shultz and William R. Bechtel, under the style of Shultz, Bechtel & Com- pany. In 1869-70 he operated Ben Franklin Colliery under the name of Kulp, Bechtel & Company. In July, 1871, he joined in part- nership with Matthias Emes and the firm of Kulp & Emes continued about six years when
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the latter was succeeded by Isaac F. Stetler. May 1, 1878, C. Q. McWilliams purchased Mr. Stetler's interest and the firm name be- came Kulp & McWilliams. In 1879 they added ice and brick to their lumber business, and carried on all three until January 1, 1882, when W. C. McConnell became a member of the firm, and Kulp, McWilliams & Company conducted the business until August 15, 1886, when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Kulp retaining the lumber interest in the business, which he afterwards continued and in con- nection with which he bought large tracts of forest land, cut the timber, and converted the property into productive farms, owning at the time of his death some ten farms in Northum- berland and adjoining counties. In the spring of 1886 Mr. Kulp and his eldest son, Monroe H., the subject of this historical review, opened a mercantile store under the firm name of D. R. Kulp & Son, which they con- ducted three years and then sold to J. O. Keeler. D. R. Kulp was first president of the Roaring Creek Water Company and a di- rector of the Shamokin Water Company. Po- litically he was a Whig and later a Republican. He was an emergency man during Gen. Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania. He served in the borough council and as supervisor of the poor in Coal township. Though reared in the Ger- man Reformed Church, Mr. Kulp affiliated with the Lutheran Church after locating in Shamokin. He was a member of Elysburg Lodge, No. 414, F. & A. M., and Shamokin Chapter, No. 264, F. & A. M. He died Jan- uary 29, 1893, having earned for himself a splendid reputation as a progressive, enter- prising citizen, and an honest, upright man.
Monroe H. Kulp was seven years old when his parents removed to Shamokin and at- tended a public school there during the winter months, and, when not engaged with school
duties, worked about the collieries, so that at the age of seventeen years he had worked in nearly every branch of the coal industry. He entered the store of his father and worked there until the firm of Kulp & McWilliams was formed, in 1878, when he entered their employ and began studying the business in which he has since become so successful.
Having a desire for a more liberal and ex- tended education, our subject entered the State Normal College at Lebanon, O., in 1879, and for two years pursued such studies as he thought would best adapt him for an active business life; and in 1881 he completed his school life by graduating from Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he made a decidedly creditable record, graduating from the business course of that institution in a shorter time than any other student had completed the course, and his work being highly complimented by the fac- ulty.
On his return from Poughkeepsie, Mr. Kulp took charge of the books of Kulp, Mc- Williams & Company, and filled the position of bookkeeper and cashier in a most satis- factory manner until the dissolution of the firm in 1886, when his father assumed the en- tire lumber business formerly operated by the firm, and from the above date until 1892 he was active in the management of the business conjointly with his father. During 1892 his father was stricken with the disease which re- sulted in his death and the entire responsi- bility of the management of the business de- volved upon the son. The undertaking was a big one as it included the supervision of busi- ness operations in timber in nine counties of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the timber tracts aggregating 20,000 acres and giving employment to 300 men. The executive ability which our subject displayed and the
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business-like manner in which he discharged every duty in his new capacity attracted the attention of his friends and has contributed much to his subsequent success following the death of his father in 1893. Becoming one of the executors of his father's will, he managed the estate until October 5, 1895, when the firm of Monroe H. Kulp & Company was formed. This company soon began an investi- gation of some timber lands in Union Coun- ty, Pa., with the result that a company was formed and incorporated in 1897 for the pur- pose of purchasing and developing this large tract of timber land. The company was formed under the title of M. H. Kulp & Com- pany, incorporated, and consisted of M. H. Kulp, president and general manager: G. Gilbert Kulp, vice-president; and D. C. Kase- man, secretary and treasurer. This company purchased a tract of timber land aggregating 25,000 acres and immediately set about de- veloping it with the characteristic energy of its head officer. It soon became apparent that in order to develop the lands a railroad must be built and a company, of which Mr. Kulp was president and general manager, was in- corporated for this purpose under the title of the Lewisburg & Buffalo Valley Railway Company. The company built a road eigh- teen miles in length connecting with the Pennsylvania and Reading roads at Lewis- burg and extending into this timber field. It is a well-equipped road for the transportation of timber products to Lewisburg, where the company operates a large steam saw-mill. This industry, which is perhaps the largest of its kind in the state, is devoted to the man- ufacture and shipment of lumber.
Prior to the death of Darlington R. Kulp, the firm of Kulp, Thomas & Company had been formed, consisting of Darlington R. Kulp, Chester B. Thomas, and Monroe H.
Kulp. This firm which operated at Milroy, Mifflin County, Pa., continued until the death of Mr. Kulp. When the estate was settled, Monroe H. purchased the landed interests of this firm and the style of the firm has con- tinued the same to the present time. This firm has also a large tract of timber land which adds considerable to the already exten- sive lumbering enterprises and includes about 5,000 acres of white pine, yellow pine and oak forests, which is rapidly being converted into lumber through the agency of their big saw-mills, being reached by the means of a fifteen-mile railroad.
In addition to the above lumbering enter- prises of great magnitude and far-reaching consequences in the development of the in- dustries of the respective sections in which they are located, Mr. Kulp is largely inter- ested in a number of business corporations in the town of his residence. He is a director in Shamokin Water Company; Shamokin Street Railway Company; Shamokin Steam Heat & Power Company; Vega Silk Company of Shamokin; and the Salt Lick Oil & Gas Com- pany. Mr. Kulp has always been an ardent Republican and in 1894, when the protective interests of the business men demanded fair representation within the halls of Congress, Mr. Kulp, without any solicitation on his part. was nominated for representative from the Seventeenth Congressional District of Penn- sylvania against Hon. Charles R. Buckalew. and, notwithstanding the usual adverse ma- jority, was elected the first Republican rep- resentative in the history of the district. At the end of his first term he was re-elected by an increased majority, a fitting reward for his earnest efforts in behalf of his constituents. At the end of his second term, owing to his increased business, he declined a renomina- tion preferring to give his entire time to his
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business interests. Socially and fraternally our subject stands deservedly high; he is a member of several branches of the Masonic fraternity, and was one of the organizers of the Cresco Club of Shamokin; is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Pottsville Club; Harrisburg Club; Sun- bury Club; Ross Club of Williamsport; The Turf Club of Philadelphia; and Union League of Philadelphia. June 8, 1897, he was united in marriage with Sarah Detweiler, a sister of Col. W. C. McConnell of Shamokin, Pa.
As one of the most widely known men in the Seventeenth Congressional District, we take pleasure in presenting Mr. Kulp's port- rait on a preceding page, in connection with the foregoing sketch of his life.
R. GEORGE BENNETT, a highly re- spected citizen and successful busi- ness man of Shamokin, North- umberland County, Pa., was born January 31, 1837, in Warwickshire, England. He is a son of George and Harriet (Lane) Bennett, of England. He received his early education in the schools of England but was thrown upon his own resources at an early age. . At the age of thirteen or fourteen years he left the home of his father, who was a wood-sawyer by trade, and became appren- ticed to a shoemaker, which trade he mastered in about three years.
Soon after reaching his majority, Mr. Ben- nett was united in marriage with Martha Ed- wards, on January II, 1859. Their home was blessed by one daughter, Martha Elizabeth, who was born June 1, 1860. Our subject came to America in 1865. He first located at Cumbola, Pa., where he remained for about nine years, a portion of which time he was engaged in mining; but subsequently, at
the urgent request of a number of his friends, principally miners, he changed his business plans and worked at his trade. He made shoe- making his sole vocation thereafter, and soon enjoyed an excellent trade, supplying not only miners and their families with footwear, but also many others who heard of the excellence of his work and the material he used, and trav- eled from miles around to patronize him. At first he carried on business on a very small scale, but, as his patronage increased and the demand for his goods became greater, he im- proved and enlarged his place of business, and made ready to meet all demands for shoes. At the end of eight or nine years, by careful man- agement and strict economy, he had accumu- lated the neat sum of three thousand dollars.
Wishing to still further enlarge and extend his business he felt the necessity of going to a larger place, where the demand for footwear would be greater; accordingly he removed to the borough of Shamokin in 1873, leased a house, and continued the same business on a larger scale. Again suc- cess crowned his efforts, and in 1878 he pur- chased the grounds adjoining his place of bus- iness and erected thereon a handsome and commodious brick building three stories high, 24 by 150 feet, which has a large basement, upper floor, hall, and middle floor. This ele- gant structure is on North Market street, and in this building Mr. Bennett has enjoyed a successful business for the past twenty years.
Mr. Bennett carries a large and well-as- sorted stock, not only of shoes, but of general merchandise. In another part of the city, on Shamokin street, he also has a branch shoe store. . By industry and frugality, he has built up a large and exceedingly profitable business, the fruits of which he is now enjoying.
Martha Elizabeth Bennett, daughter of our subject, was first united in marriage with Rev.
DR. WILLIAM MCCLELLAN REBER.
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SEVENTEENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.
Thomas Philip, a Methodist minister now de- ceased, and a native of Cornwall, England. Mrs. Philip was deeply attached to her first husband and mourned his demise for seven years when she entered a second union with Rev. William Opie, also of Cornwall, Eng- land. Again death deprived her of her com- panion. Rev. Opie died in July, 1897, having led an exemplary and useful life as a Metho- dist minister for a period of thirty-five years.
Mr. Bennett enjoys the confidence of the people of Shamokin and occupies several posi- tions of trust. He is treasurer of the Anglo- American Building & Loan Association; also treasurer of the Guarantee Building & Loan Association of Philadelphia, for the Shamo- kin district. He has executed the trusts that have devolved upon him faithfully and ef- ficiently, and is deserving of the high reputa- tion he enjoys for uprightness and fair deal- ing.
He is a devout Episcopalian. Fraternally he is a member of Black Diamond Lodge, I. O. O. F .; also a member of the Knights of the Mystic Chain.
R. WILLIAM MCCLELLAN RE- BER, who is closely identified with many of the business interests of Bloomsburg and is a physician by profession, is a gentleman whose trained abilities and skilled resources have brought him into public notice and have won for him the regard, es- teem and respect justly due a man of his use- fulness in the community. The work of a physician from its innate nature is of the kind which brings him into the closest relationship with the people. The way in which he car- ries his responsibilities is ever to the public a matter of the most vital importance. That Dr. Reber fully knows the ethics of his pro-
fession as well as the teachings, and every day of his life lives up to them, adinits of no dis- cussion. His high standing everywhere proves his fidelity to his patients and his suc- cess demonstrates his talents. He is a son of David and Margaret (Musser) Reber, and was born in Lewisburg, Pa., March 4, 1842.
The family is of German origin and the parents of John Reber, the grandfather of our subject, came to this country prior to the Revolutionary War, locating in Berks County, Pa. John Reber was born in Berks County, but in 1803 moved to Union County, where he purchased a farm in Buffalo Valley and fol- lowed farming. Having acquired a compe- tency, in 1831 he moved to Lewisburg Pa., where he died in June, 1852, at the age of eighty-two years. He was the progenitor of the following children: John, deceased; James, deceased; Thomas; Samuel, deceased; David, deceased; Susan (Kleckner); Elizabeth (Vorse); Leah (Heisler); Margaret, deceased; and Mary (Dunkle), deceased.
David Reber, the father of our subject, was born in Buffalo Valley, near Lewisburg, June 19, 1817, and spent his entire life in that locality. He was reared on a farm and re- ceived his education in the public schools, but he was not fifteen years old when his parents moved to the village of Lewisburg. There, after clerking a few years, he engaged in the general merchandise business on his own ac- count and continued it until 1854, when he entered the Lewisburg Savings Bank, which was subsequently merged into a state bank
and finally into the Lewisburg National Bank. With such good faith did he discharge his duties he was promoted to cashier of the bank on May 4, 1859, continuing in that capacity until his death on September 11, 1894. He was also engaged in the manufacture of bricks for a period of forty years and attained the
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highest success. He was a Republican in pol- tics and took an active interest in all matters of local prominence, filling some of the town offices. Religiously he was a member and a regular attendant of the Presbyterian Church. He was joined in wedlock with Margaret Musser, who died June 14, 1897, at the age of eighty years, and their union resulted in the birth of two children: William McClel- lan, the subject of this biographical record, and John Musser, who has been engaged in merchandising in Boston for more than twenty years.
Dr. Reber obtained a good mental training, attending the Lewisburg Academy and Lew- isburg University up to the Junior year, when he took up the study of medicine with Dr. William Hayes of Lewisburg. His second year of study was under the direction of Dr. William H. Pancoast of Philadelphia, and he applied himself with such diligence that he was enabled to graduate from the Jefferson Medical College in March, 1863. He then en- tered the United States Navy as assistant-sur- geon, being stationed at the naval hospital at Norfolk, Va., and subsequently at the naval hospital in Brooklyn, N. Y. He next saw ser- vice on a gun-boat fleet for one and one-half years on the Ohio, Cumberland and Tennes- see rivers, being division surgeon of the 10th District of the Mississippi Squadron, and then on the U. S. S. Lackawanna, which went on a cruise to the Sandwich Islands, stopping at Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, passing through the Strait of Magellan, and then stopping at Valparaiso. While at Valparaiso he with other officers visited the beautiful city of Santiago. capital of Chile. He left the service in De- cember, 1868, and in the following February located at Bloomsburg, where he has since practiced, having acquired a large general clientage. He is a member of the National,
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