USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Commemorative biographical encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania : containing sketches of prominent and representative citizens and many of the early Scotch-Irish and German settlers. Pt. 1 > Part 62
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 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
Dr. Brown was married at Maryville, Tenn., June 22, 1875, to Margaret, daughter of George and Margaret Bell, of Rock Springs, Centre county, Pa. They have no children. During his residence in Blair county from 1877 to 1SS6, the Doctor was surgeon of the Cambria Iron Company. He is an active member of La Monte Lodge, No. 568, F. & A. M., of Derry ; of Portage Chapter, No. 23S, of Johnstown, Pa .; of Pilgrim Commandery, No. 11, Harrisburg; Harrisburg Consistory, 32°; and of Orphans' Home Lodge, No. 315, of Williamsport, Pa. He is an ex-president of Blair County Medical Society, and cx- member of the State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. His political views are Republican. Dr. and Mrs. Brown attend Pine Street Presbyterian church.
HARTMAN, PAUL AUGUSTUS, M. D., was born at Lebanon, Pa., December 24, 1850. He is a son of John Joseph and Wilhelmina (Stoever) Hartman, who removed from Ly- coming county, Pa., to Harrisburg, in 1864. Ile obtained his literary education in the public schools, at the State Normal School, Kutztown, Berks county, and at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. Having decided to study medicine he entered the office of Dr. Robert II. Seiler, of Harrisburg, and pursued the study of this science under his instruction. IIe attended Jefferson Medical College and re- ceived his diploma from that institution in
1874. The same year he began the practice of medicine in Harrisburg, where he still continues and enjoys an extensive and lucrative business. The Doctor is a mem- ber of the Dauphin County Medical Society, the State Medical Society. the American Med .. ical Association, and was one of the organ- izers and charter members of the Harris- burg Academy of Medicine. He served as secretary of the County Society for several years, and in 1885 he was its president. He was once a delegate to the American Medical Association. He suceceded Dr. Egle in the office of prison physician, and still holds that position. He is medical inspector for the State Board of Health and also one of the physicians to the City Hospital. Dr. Hartman is a Republican in politics and is active in local matters. He served two terms in the common council of the city, representing the Fourth ward, being elected in 1876. He was a member of the police and ordinance committee in this body. He was elected a member of the school board from the Fourth ward in 1SSS and is now serving a third term in that board, being president of the same. He is a stockholder in the Trust Company. He is not a mem- ber of any club and is unmarried.
-MEALS, EZRA S., M. D., was born at Ben- dersville, Adams county, Pa., July 28, 1851. He is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth ( Rice) Meals. Samuel Meals was born in Menallen township, Adams county, and was of Scotch and Welsh ancestry. He spent his entire life in his native township, where he worked at his trade of blacksmithing. From the date of his marriage he resided at Benders- ville, where he still lives, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. He was for twenty- five years a justice of the peace and also filled acceptably many other offices in his native county. He raised company G, One Hun- dred and Thirty-eighth Pennsylvania volun- teers, but did not go out with the men on account of his age. Ile is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In polities he is a staunch Republican.
His wife, the mother of Dr. E. S. Meals, was also born in Menallen township. She was of German descent. They were married in 1839. Mrs. Meals died in 1877, at the age of fifty-five years. They had seven children, one of whom died in infancy; Isaiah died at the age of twenty-eight, and Mary Catherine, wife of Elias Peters, died February, 1895.
375
DAUPHIN COUNTY.
The children living at the date of this writ- ing are: Lucy A., wife of Hiram Yates, re- siding at Bendersville; Dr. Ezra S., William W., a prominent merchant of Menallen, and Ira J., a merchant of Roanoke, Va.
Dr. Ezra S. Meals received his primary education in the public schools of his native town. Later he attended the Normal School at Gettysburg, and the Tyson Academy, Flora Dale, Pa. He began the study of medi- cine with Dr. E. W. Mauma, of Bendersville, reading with him for a year ; he subsequently studied for a year with his brother, I. J. Meals, at Mill Creek, Huntingdon county, Pa. He next spent one term in the study of medicine and pharmacy in the University of Michigan. Another year was passed under the instruc- tion of Dr. R. B. Elderdice, of McKnights- town, Adams county. He was graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Cincinnati, Ohio, with the class of 1874, and immediately afterwards began the practice of his chosen profession at MeKnightstown, pur- chasing the practice of his preceptor. After practicing successfully in this town for a year and a half he removed to Biglersville, Adams county, where he continued practice for the same length of time. August 16, 1877, he located in Harrisburg, since which date he has been in continuous practice in this city. He ranks among the most skillful and suc- cessful of his profession.
He was married in Biglersville, September 14, 1875, to Mary L., daughter of Henry G. and Margaret Kosser. They have two chil- dren, Ira Dale and Harry S.
Dr. Meals is now serving on the board of school directors. He was a member of the Adams County Medical Society, and now be- longs to the Dauphin County Medical Insti- tute. He is a warm supporter of the Repub- lican party. He belongs to the Knights of Malta. and was formerly connected with other societies.
- GORGAS, SOLOMON R., M. D., was born in Cumberland county, Pa., September 11, 1853. He was the son of Hon. William R. Gorgas a sketch of whom appears in another place in this volume, and Elizabeth (Hummel) Gorgas. He resided in his native county until fifteen years of age. He received his education at Columbia Valley Institute, at Mechanicsburg, and Muhlenburg College, of Meyerstown. He took up the study of medi- cine with Dr. E. II. Coover, and attended the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia,
from which institution he was graduated in 1874. IIe began the practice of medicine in the Philadelphia almshouse, and continued, it until January, 1876. Hle practiced in Philadelphia for one year. In 1877 he came to Harrisburg, where he conducted a gen- cral practice, and also gave special attention to surgery until his death, June 30, 1894. He was a member of the Dauphin County Medical Society, and served as its president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, etc. He was a member of the State Medical Society and served on some of its most important committees, In 1887 he was appointed by the board of governors to the position of physician to the City Hospital, and for three years served as assistant surgeon of the same. He was a stockholder in the Harrisburg Burial Case Company, in the Harrisburg Furniture Factory and in the City Passenger Railway Company, and director of the same. As one of the administrators of his father's estate he was interested in various business enterprises of the city. He was a member of the Democratic party, but held no political office. He was one of the physicians to the Children's Industrial Home, and was resi- dent surgeon to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company from January 1, 1894, until the time of his death. Ile was not married.
-GORGAS, HON. WILLIAM R., was born at the Gorgas homestead in Lower Allen town- ship, Cumberland county, Pa., May S, 1806. He was a son of Solomon Gorgas, who came to Cumberland county from Ephrata, Lan- caster county, Pa., in 1804. He grew to manhood on the farm on which he was born, and succeeded to his father's business, the management of the farm and a general country store. He did not have a regular school education, but attended Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Md., and then suc- ceeded by experience in obtaining a prac- tical and thorough business training. Early in life he turned his attention to politics. He was a Democrat, and in 1836 was elected to the lower house of the State Legislature, and was twice re-elected, serving through the critical period known as the " Buck-shot War." In 1841 he was nominated for State senator on the Democratic ticket, in the district comprising the counties of Cumber- land, Franklin and Adams, and was elected. Mr. Gorgas was not a debater, but a man of good judgment and of strong common sense, which, with his tireless industry, made him
376
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
an influential and valuable legislator. After serving one term in the State Senate, he laid aside polities and devoted himself to busi- ness pursuits, in which he continued active until very late in life. He was one of the founders and first directors of the banking firm of Merkle, Mumma & Co., of Mechan- icsburg. This firm subsequently became a State bank, which was afterwards made the First National Bank of Mechanicsburg, of which Mr. Gorgas was a director at the time of his death. He was also a director of the Harrisburg National Bank from 1845 till his death. He was a director of the Harrisburg Bridge Company, of the Harrisburg Market Company, and of the Harrisburg City Pas- senger Railway Company. He was presi- dent of the Harrisburg Burial Case Com- pany, and of the Allen and East Pennsboro' Fire Insurance Company. He was a member of the Reservoir Park Commission, and of the advisory board of the Children's Indus- trial Home. In 1877 he removed from the Gorgas homstead to Harrisburg, where in 1882 he was the Demoeratie nominee for the Legislature. The city was then Republican by a majority of five hundred, but he came within eighty-eight votes of being cleeted. On March 5, 1840, he married Miss Elizabeth Hummel, of Harrisburg, by whom he had eight children. His widow and four children survive him. His children are: William L., cashier of the Harrisburg National Bank; George A., druggist; Kate F. and Mary E. He was a member of the Seventh Day Bap- tist church, and was in every respect a most conscientious and exemplary citizen. He died December 7, 1892, and his remains were interred in the family lot in the cemetery of Camp Hill, Cumberland county, Pa.
- BAKER, W. C., M. D., was born in Chester county, Pa., January 10, 1850; son of Samuel and Mary (Rakestraw) Baker. He was reared in his native county and received his literary education in the public schools and in Mil- lersville Normal School. Dr. Henry Car- penter was his private preceptor in the study of medicine. He took a course of lectures in the University of Maryland and later attended the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1874. He began the practice of medicine at Marietta, Lancaster county, and in the fall of 1874 came to Hummelstown, where he has since been in practice and enjoys the leading pa- tronage of the place. Dr. Baker was formerly
a member of the Lancaster County Medical Society. In fraternity relations he is asso- ciated with Perseverance Lodge, No. 21, F. & A. M., at Harrisburg, and the Knights of the Golden Eagle at Hummelstown. He is a director of the Farmers' Bank and a charter member and director of the Hum- melstown Electric Light Company. The Doctor is the physician and surgeon of the Hummelstown Brown Stone Company and of the railroad attached to the same. In politics he is Republican and has served as school director and also as member of the council. Dr. Baker was married, in 1875, to Miss A. E. Bare, daughter of Diller Bare, of Lancaster county, and granddaughter of Adam Bare, one of the early sheriff's of that county. They have three children : Mary Maud, Gertrude Clair, and Zelma May. In church matters the Doctor was reared in the Society of the Friends and his wife in the Lutheran Church.
RITCHIE, MELANCTION M., M. D., was born in Bedford county, Pa., June 5, 1849; son of Josiah and Jennie Ritchie, the former a native of Bedford. the latter of Cumber- land county, Pa. The father was one of the prominent and successful business men of that county for many years, and later in life engaged in farming and is still residing there. Melancthon M. was the oldest of ten children, was reared in Bedford county, re- ceived his education in the public school and in the normal school, completing it by a special course in Dickinson Seminary at Williamsport, Pa. He read medicine under Dr. Joseph D. Streble, of Bedford, and eon- tinued his reading and practice under Dr. G. W. Smith, of Hollidaysburg. In 1874 he was graduated from the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, after which he prac- ticed two years at Saxton, Bedford county, and then took a special course at Jefferson College. After practicing at Carlisle. Pa .. six years, in 1883 he came to Harrisburg. locating on Market street, where he has since been engaged in a general practice. Dr. Ritchie is a member of the Dauphin County Medieal Society. While at Saxton he was physician of the Huntingdon Railroad Company. In 1865 he enlisted as a private in company A, Fiftieth regiment, Ninth army corps, and served until close of the war, August, 1865. Ile was present at the evacuation of Petersburg. In politics, Dr. Ritchie is with the Demoeratie party and is
?
A.B.Walter n. a.
bt. Rakter M.S
David , Funk M.R.
379
DAUPHIN COUNTY.
active in party measures. He was elected member of the select council from the Ninth ward and served two years, during which he was chairman of the sanitary committee and of the highway committee and a mem- ber of the finance committee. He was also elected assessor of the Ninth ward and served one year. Grand Army Post No. 58 carries his name on its roll of members, and he has served as surgeon of the Post. Dr. Ritchie was married, in 1871, to Miss Maggie Gil- brough, daughter of Jacob Gilbrough,, of Huntingdon, Pa. Their children are Mar- ion Delmar and Elsie N. The family are members of the Reformed church, corner Third and Chestnut streets.
COOVER, FREDERICK WELTY, son of Jacob and Lydia (Welty) Coover, was born Feb- ruary 1, 1852, at Coover's Mill, on the banks of the Yellow Breeches creek, in Upper Al- len township, Cumberland county, Pa. He received his education in the public schools of the township in winter and in select pay schools in summer. He began the study of medicine in 1870 with Dr. W. W. Ruther- ford, of Harrisburg, with whom he continued six months, when being taken seriously ill he removed to his home in Dillsburg. Upon his recovery he continued his studies with Drs. G. L. and J. M. Shearer of that place. In October, 1872, he matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania, medical depart- ment, where he attended three full courses of lectures and in addition the special spring course of 1873. He graduated in March, 1875, and on the 12th of April entered upon the duties of resident physician of the City Hospital, Harrisburg, being the first to fill that position. The year succeeding he began the general practice of medicine in Harrisburg, was elected one of the visit- ing physicians to the hospital, in which posi- tion he continues connected with that insti- tution. In 1878 he was elected physician to the county almshouse and filled that posi- tion until 1886. In 1889 he succeeded Dr. Seiler as visiting surgeon to the City Hos- pital. He is one of the organizers of the " Maternity ;" is a member of the Danphin County and State Medical Societies, and American Medical Association. He has been for several years senior surgeon of the Harrisburg Hospital, was one of the organ- izers of the Academy of Medicine and treas- urer of the same. He is a Republican in politics and past master of Perseverance
Lodge, F. & A. M. Dr. Coover married April 19, 1881, Elizabeth Faerster, only daughter of George and Catherine Faerster, of Ilarrisburg. They have two children : Corson and Catherine Lydia. He and his family are members of Pine Street Presby- terian church.
FAGER, JOIN II., M. D., was born in Har- risburg, Pa., September 7, 1854, son of John Il. and Mary (Buffington) Fager. He at- tended the public schools and took the regular course of the Harrisburg high school. He had Dr. C. B. Fager for his private pre- ceptor in the study of medicine, and was graduated from the University of Pennsyl- vania in 1876. He immediately entered upon a general practice in Harrisburg, in which he has continued with marked suc- cess until the present time. He is a member of the Dauphin County Homeopathic Society. In his political views Dr. Fager is an Inde- pendent, with Democratic proclivities. He was married, in 1879, to Miss Olive West- brook, of Harrisburg, by whom he has two children, Lucy and Paul. Dr. Fager is an active and prominent member of the Mes- siah Lutheran church, being a member of the church council and superintendent of the second department of the Sunday-school. He is also identified with other relegious activities, being the district secretary of the Christian Endeavor Society, and formerly prominent in the work of the Young Men's Christian Association.
-FUNK, DAVID SIEBER, M. D., was born and reared on his father's farm in Juniata county, Pa., two miles east of Mexico. He is the second son of Samuel and Elizabeth Sieber Funk, who had three children ; the eldest, John Hudson, died of typhoid fever in the autumn of 1872, and the youngest, Mary Emma, is the wife of McCluney Radcliffe, M. D., of Philadelphia.
The Funks were in Lancaster county, Pa., as early as 1718. Michael Funk, the great- grandfather of David S., kept a noted hos- telry on the old Paxtang road, in East Earl township, and removed to Walker township, Juniata county, Pa., in 1805, where he en- gaged in agricultural pursuits. One of his sons, John Funk, grandfather of Dr. Funk, chose the avocation of his father. He took an active interest in the affairs of his adopted county, and was elected to the Legislature of 1841-42.
28
380
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
David S. was born July 17, 1852, and after attending the common schools was prepared for Princeton College at Airyview Academy, Port Royal, Pa., under the professorship of David Wilson, Ph. D. He was admitted to the sophomore class of Princeton in the au- tumn of 1874, graduating in June, 1877. He immediately began the study of medicine, and entered the medieal department of the University of Pennsylvania in the autumn of 1878, and took the degree of M. D. in the spring of 1SS1. He located in Harrisburg in June of the same year, where he has been engaged in the general practice of his pro- fession ever since.
.
Dr. Funk has been a member of the IIar- risburg Hospital staff for twelve years; was a member of the United States Board of Pension Examining Surgeons under Har- rison's administration. He is vice-president of the Dauphin County Medical Society, sec- retary of the Harrisburg Academy of Medi- cine; is a permanent member of the Medical Society of the State of Peunsylvania, and of. the American Medical Association; was a member of the Harrisburg Board of Control in 1886-87. He is serving his second term as president of the Harrisburg Y. M. C. A., and is an ex-officio member of the board of dircetors.
In December, 1881, he married Matilda, youngest daughter of John and Margaret Tyson Motzer, Mr. Motzer at the time being a retired farmer of Juniata county. The Motzers were among the early settlers of Perry county. The father of Mrs. Funk had two brothers; the elder, Martin, was for a number of years associate judge of the eourts of Perry county; the younger, Daniel, was a Presbyterian minister in Georgetown, D. C., at the breaking out of the Rebellion. His widow, who was a grand-niece of Gen. George Washington, survives him, and is a resident of Washington, D. C. Dr. and Mrs. Funk have one ehild, John Clarenee, now twelve years of age.
- BEST, AUSTIN, physician and pharmacist, was born in Lower Allen township, Cumber- land county, Pa., December 6, 1850. He is a son of Martin and Catherine (Eberly) Best, natives of Cumberland county. Both parents still survive, and reside in Shiremanstown, Cumberland county. The father has spent his whole life in Cumberland county, and is one of the most prominent agriculturalists of the region, and a promoter of the growth and
welfare of the county. He has lived to be seventy-five years of age, and is still actively engaged in the superintendence of his farm. His wife has also been spared to an ad- vanced age. They had twelve children, of whom nine are living: Sarah Jane, wife of William HI. Snavely, residing near Mechan- iesburg, Cumberland county, a farmer ; Jo- sepl H., residing at Eberly's Mills, Cumber- land county ; Elizabeth C., wife of Joseph Stoner, a prominent farmer of York county; Dr. Austin ; Alice, wife of John Bowman, residing near Lisbon, York county, Pa. ; Newton, a prominent farmer of York county ; Martin, residing at home; Catherine, resid- ing with the parents, and Emma, wife of Maurice Miller, grain merchant, residing at Shiremanstown.
Austin was reared to manhood in his na- tive township. He received his primary education in the public schools. He took a collegiate course at Lebanon Valley College, Annville, Lebanon county, Pa. Ile subse- quently taught school for three terms, one term each in Cumberland, Dauphin and York counties. At the expiration of this time he began reading medicine with Dr. Eli H. Coover, of Harrisburg. In 1876 he entered Jefferson Medical College, and graduated from that institution March S, 1878. He began the practice of his profes- sion in New Cumberland, Cumberland county, and was engaged there about one year. He practiced two years in Dover, York county, and one year in Shiremans- town, Cumberland county. In 1883 he en- gaged in the drug business in Steelton, in connection with an offiee practice, and con- tinued to be thus employed until 1889. Ile then removed to Harrisburg, and has since been continuously in business in this city at his present location. During the last five years he has resumed the practice of his pro- fession.
He was married in New Cumberland, De- eember 25, 1880, to Miss Emma Thompson, daughter of James and Malinda Thompson. They have one daughter, Edna May, born August 27, 1887. In political views Dr. Best is a Democrat. Ile attends the M. E. chureh.
PARK, J. WALTER, M. D., specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, was born in what is now Carsonville, Dauphin county, Pa., October 22, 1855. He is a son of George and Luectta Park. His father
381
DAUPHIN COUNTY.
was born in Jefferson township, and is a son of Robert Park, a native of England, who was one of the first settlers of that township, took up a tract of land, cleared a farm, and lived and died there. He was a member of the M. E. church. He reared a family of five children, of whom George was the next to the oldest, and was reared on the home- stead, with the ordinary educational ad- vantages of the situation. He started in on farm work, and afterwards engaged in buy- ing and shipping stock from the west to the eastern markets. He afterwards had a store at Carsonville for a few years. He subse- quently engaged in the lumber business in Clark's Valley, shipping lumber to the Har- risburg Car Works and the Lykens Valley Coal Company, and was a member of the firm of the Fifth Wheel Works of Millers- burg, Pa. He was also in the lumber busi- ness in Centre eounty, furnishing props and mining timber for the eoal eompanics at Shamokin and Lykens, Pa. Mr. Park be- longed to the Democratic party, but for the last few years of his life was identified with the Prohibitionist party. He was an ac- tive member of the M. E. church, and promi- nent in Trinity church, Powell's Valley, Pa., filling all of the important church offices ; he was a licensed exhorter. He was once nominated for poor director, and served in numerous township offices. He died August 17, 1892, and his wife died January 12, 1895. They had a family of six children, namely: Sarah J., wife of John Sheetz, of Carson- ville; Arthur, of Harrisburg, with the Reading Railroad Company; Dr. J. W .; Thomas R., of Millersburg; Alice and Har- riet, who both died in infancy.
J. Walter was reared in his native town- ship to the age of seventeen years, and was educated in the public schools. He went to Chester, Pa., to study the drug business, but finding it too confining, he did not long re- main there. He returned home and read medicine with Dr. H. R. Caslow, of Halifax. He attended the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, and was graduated in 187S. In May, 1879, he was married to Miss Ida L. Haverstick, daughter of Mrs. Susan Haver- stick, of Millersburg, Pa. He practiced medi- cine in Williamstown, Dauphin county, up to 1SS9. In this year he went to Europe. He was clinical assistant at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital for six months. He studied three months in Berlin, Germany, and three months in Paris, in the various
eye, ear, nose and throat hospitals. IIc returned the last of the year to New York City, and was with Dr. Herman Knapp in his institute up to March 1, 1890. Dur- ing this course he perfected his studies of the eye, car, nose and throat. On March 1, 1890, he came to Harrisburg, where he has since practiced, and is the leading specialist in the city. In the fall of 1890 he was elected a surgeon of the cye, ear, nose and throat department of the City Hospital, and to the same place in the Children's Indus- trial Home. He is also special examiner for the Pension Department of the Government. He is a member and ex-president of the Dauphin County Medical Society, a member of the State Medical Society of Pennsylva- nia, fellow of Harrisburg Academy of Medi- cine, Pan-American Medical Congress, and the American Medical Association. He is a charter member and one of the directors of the Harrisburg Real Estate and Improvement Company, a stockholder in the Harrisburg Trust Company, Harrisburg Electric Com- pany and the Pennsylvania Steel Company, Steelton, Pa. He is also a member of the Masonie fraternity. In politics he is a Democrat, and was formerly active in party matters.
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.