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. 2 > Part 80
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Mr. Hackman's family consisted of eleven children : Anne, wife of Michael Hicker ; Mary, Mrs. Lenker ; Alice, wife of Onesimus Kreider ; Edward, married Henrietta Stahl ; Clara ; Horace, married Mollie Shoffstall; Wilson, married Sallie Light; Ida, wife of Frank Bender; Lizzie, deceased ; Virginia, wife of Samuel M. Glenigon, and Laura, wife of Henry Stein.
Mr. Lenker's political preferences are with the Republican party. He has served the township in various offices. He was elected justice of the peace in 1876, served two years, and then resigned ; re-elected in 1892, he has continued in office ever since. Under President Johnson's administration, in 1867, he was appointed postmaster of Killinger, Pa., and held the office until 1885. Mr. Lenker and his family are members of the United Brethren church.
- RIEGLE, BENJAMIN, retired farmer, was born in Tulpehocken township, Berks county, Pa., March 24, 1805. His parents are George and Anna Mary (Lesher) Riegle. ITis pater- nal grandparents are John and Elizabeth ('Zeller) Riegle, and his maternal grandpar- ents John and Barbara Lesher. George Ricgle, his father, died at the age of eighty- six years and eight months; his wife died aged about eighty-three. They had twelve children : Benjamin, Daniel, who died at the age of twenty-two, John, Jacob, Jonathan, David, George, Henry, Elias, Elizabeth, Mary, and Catherine.
Benjamin Riegle wascarefully trained from earliest childhood at home, and his parents made willing contributions for the support. of a school in the neighborhood in which he was a pupil. This was before the establish- ment of the admirable public school system, maintained by general taxation ; these sub- scription schools were the only educational advantages within the reach of people of moderate means. The family removed to Northumberland county when Benjamin was nine years old. His education being lim- ited, having attended school only a few months for two or three winters, he con- tinued to attend subscription schools until he was nineteen .. These schools were only kept open during the winter season, when farm work was not pressing; in the farming season all the girls and boys were industri- ous helpers in home and farm work.
Mr. and Mrs. Riegle thinking it well that a boy should know a trade, Benjamin was placed with Jacob Welker, of Millersburg, to learn that of cabinet making. At the end of two years Mr. Welker pronounced him a well trained mechanic, and he went to work as a journeyman. After following this occupa- tion for one year, Mr. Riegle decided to re- turn to farm work; so, after due considera- tion, he rented a farm in Upper Paxton town- ship, from Jacob Landis, for three years. Within the first year of his lease he learned that he could buy a farm on easy terms, so he sublet the Landis farm to Jacob Lebo, and on April 1, 1828, bought his present home- stead, then comprising one hundred and twenty-eight acres. IIe at once took posses- sion and began the process of clearing, im- proving, enriching the soil and erecting needed structures, making substantial im- provements of all kinds in due order, which have brought his farm into first-class condi-
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tion, both for productiveness and for appear- ance, and made him a prosperous farmer. His first great improvement, and the one he deemed most important, was the large, sub- stantial and convenient barn that he built in 1834. Finding that he could as easily and more economically manage a larger farm, Mr. Riegle bought fifty acres more of Chris- topher Yeager in 1838, and fifty of William Lenker five years later; all of which coming under the same skillful and judicious man- agement, made the additions equal to the original farm in condition and value. 'The dwelling Mr. Riegle determined should be one that would adorn his farm and afford his family convenience and comfort; and in 1859 he built the beautiful and spacious resi- dence which has since been his home.
As the children appear upon the threshold of active life Mr. Riegle takes care of their interests. In 1850 he bought of George Buf- fington a farm of one hundred and twenty- eight acres, which he greatly improved, and which, in 1865, he sold to his son Jonathan. In 1860 he bought of Simon Yeager a farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres of cleared land and thirty acres of timber, on which, in 1861, be built a large barn and made other improvements, and in 1866 sold it to his son-in-law, Jeremiah Landis. In the spring of the same year he sold one hundred acres, with buildings, to his son Benjamin. Mr. Riegle's circumstances now made it necessary for him to be taxed with the burdens and responsibilities of active business, but his integrity and ability were so manifest in his career that organized in- dustries and financial trusts and ven- tures desired his aid and support in their administration; for any enterprise to which Benjamin Riegle would give his name would win and hold public confi- dence. A number of such enterprises in the lower end of Lykens Valley have en- joyed his services and his endorsement. Mr. Riegle was for many years a stockholder in one of the Harrisburg banks, and was largely instrumental in the organization of the Lykens Valley Bank, now the First Na- tional Bank of Millersburg, in which for many years he was a director and one of the principal stockholders; he was also one of the principal organizers of the Lykens Bank.
Benjamin Riegle was first married, Janu- ary 31, 1826, to Catherine Diebler, daughter of Daniel and Anna Mary (Fessel) Diebler.
They had nine children, of whom seven are deceased. Mrs. Riegle died January 16, 1875, and was deeply mourned by those who knew her many virtues and her exemplary conduct in all relations of life. In the sec- ond marriage of Mr. Riegle he was united, June 6, 1875, to Mrs. Elizabeth Hummel, widow of John Hummel, who died October 6, 1865. Mrs. Riegle's children, by her first marriage, are Henry, Jacob, Matthias, Chris- tian, and Elizabeth, all deceased ; Mary; John, who married Susan Bidding, and Amanda, wife of David Lenker.
Mr. Riegle's character is no less marked and prominent through his domestic and social qualities than through those which secured to him the remarkable success of his business career. Multitudes share his hos- pitality and enjoy his society. He is boun- tiful in his charities, and a willing and lib- eral contributor to all measures for the pro- motion of the public welfare. His church membership is in the United Brethren church, and he is second to none in his sup- port of its benevolent enterprises.
WEAVER, PHILIP, farmer, was born on the homestead in Upper Paxton township, Dauphin county, Pa., March 19, 1850, and is a son of William J. and Elizabeth (Hoy) Weaver. His grandfather, Jacob Weaver, married Christina Cooper, and they had five children : Jac b, who died young; George, married Sarah Cameron; Adam ; William J .; Sarah, married to Peter Schreffler, who died, and she married Jacob Martz. Will- iam J. Weaver, father of Philip Weaver, was born in November, 1818, and died May 10, 1883, aged about sixty-five. His wife died November 13, 1887, at nearly the same age. Their children are: Sarah, deceased, wife of Jacob H. Forney ; Catherine, wife of Michael Kuffer; Philip; Jonathan, mar- ried Louisa Strohnecker; Christian, married Catherine Campbell; Isaac, married Eliza- beth Hummel, and after her death, Sarah Novinger; Samuel, married Kate Miller; Elizabeth, married Daniel Koppenheffer.
Philip Weaver was, in his boyhood, kept busily at work on the farm during the season for farm work ; his only opportunity for school education was in the common schools of his township, which were open for a few months of each winter. He re- mained with his parents until he became of age, and then went ont to work among the neighboring farmers. His first engagement
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was with Jonas Diebler, with whom he continued until August 10, 1871. He was then with Rev. J. W. Lesher for eighteen months, farming for him and running his saw mill; after this he was for a short time with Brown & Early, at Williamsport, Pa., spending the remainder of the summer with Taber & Goodrich, and in both of these situations doing general work. He went home in the fall of 1873, and remained until the following spring, when he took one of his father's farms on shares, and cul- tivated it for one year. He then removed to his present homestead, where he has since been engaged in general farming. He has much improved the place; in 1885 he built upon it a saw and a grist mill, and has a good trade with the farmers of the vicinity. Philip Weaver was married, No- vember 16, 1873, to Amelia Mary, daughter of Simon and Tina (Henninger) Daniel, born June 25, 1848. Their children are: Oliver, born March 2, 1874; Annie Nora, October 11, 1875, wife of Francis M. Larkin, has one child, Edna Rebecca; George Melancthon, March 17, 1877; Lizzie Celesta, January 5, 1879; Tina Amanda, November 16, 1880; Frederick Patterson, November 7, 1882; Edward Whitney, January 10, 1885; and Monroe Curtin, January 17, 1887. Mr. Weaver is a Democrat. He served one term of five years in the office of justice of the peace. The family are members of the Reformed church.
Simon Daniel, father of Mrs. Weaver, died in 1885, aged about seventy ; his wife survives him. Of their eleven children, two are deceased : Amanda, wife of Gabriel Weary, and Malinda, wife of Henry Schneider. The surviving children are: Edward Isaac, married Mary Coleman ; Sarah, wife of Cornelius Kohler; Aaron, married Mary Buffington; Amelia Mary, Mrs. Weaver; Henry, married Christine Hubach; Catherine and Lizzie, twins, the former married to William Wolf, the latter to William Wenrich; Fietta, wife of Elmer Thompson.
WEAVER, ADAM G., retired farmer, was born on his father's farm, Upper Paxton township, Dauphin county, Pa., November 24, 1814, and is a son of George and Margaretta (Lenker) Weaver. Jacob Weaver, his grand- father, was born near Zweibreucke, Bavaria. After coming to this country he married Margaretta Schamera; their children were:
Jacob, Gretchen, Daniel, Magdalena, and George. George Weaver, father of Adam G. Weaver, died in July, 1858, aged about seventy-six ; his wife died October 24, 1832, aged about forty-eight. All of their family of fifteen children grew to maturity but one, Elizabeth, who died aged eleven. The other children were: Mary, Jacob, George, Su- sanna, David, Adam, Lydia, Daniel, Simon, Fanny, Rebecca, Annie, William, and Rachel.
Adam Weaver had very slender oppor- tunities for securing an education, for while there was a subscription school open in the neighborhood for a part of each year, he could not avail himself fully of even this ad- vantage, for he was very active and helpful, and the farm work made constantly increas- ing demands on his- time as he grew older. From his eighteenth to his twenty-eighth year he gave his entire time to farming. For six of those years he and his brother took the farm on shares. At the age of twenty- eight he removed to his present homestead, which had been bought by his father, and was at that time only a rough piece of land, without buildings or improvements. He made an agreement with his father for the use and final possession of this land on terms which they considered reasonable and within his reach. Here he began the making of a farm and a home. He first built a small log house, which was a comfort- able dwelling, and which he occupied until he had secured time and means for erecting a good house. He made improvements in the order of their necessity, and in 1844 built a large and substantial barn. It was a long time before he felt ready for the dwell- ing, but in 1861, the conditions being favor- able, the elegant residence was erected, which has been the home of his family since that date. All other improvements came in due order and time, and the result is the home- stead in its completeness and excellence. The time of waiting was shortened by Mr. Weaver's employing the winter months in weaving flax and wool, a trade which he had learned from his father, and progress was still more assisted by frugality and economy in his way of living and in the general con- duct of his affairs. At the time of his fath- er's death, in 1858, Mr. Weaver received the deed to the farm, which consists of one hun- dred and fifty acres of land in a high state of cultivation and improvement. In 1866 be bought the John Weaver farm, which his
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son Jeremiah occupies, and which he sold to his son in 1890. In the same year he bought the Isaac Negley farm, on which his son Adam now resides. In 1880 he built the cottage in which his son Aaron lives, and in 1892 purchased two hundred and twenty-one acres of land from Andrew Rich- mond.
On May 30, 1843, Adam Weaver was mar- ried to Susanna, daughter of Henry and Catherine (Buffington) Daniel, born January 31, 1831. Their children are: Catherine, born July 6, 1844; Jeremiah, born Novem- ber 25, 1845, married Sarah Bohner, by whom he had four children, and after her death married Abby Wright, had two chil- dren ; Cornelius, born February 13, 1848, married Julia Fogleman, has one child ; Aaron, born October 30, 1849, married Ellen Miller, had two children ; Adam, born March 22, 1852, married Lizzie Gassner, has five children; Susanna Weaver, born May 4, 1855, married Gilbert Troutman, has ten chil- dren ; Priscilla, born April 18, 1858; and Adeline, born July 7, 1860, married Jacob Wiest, now deceased, had one child. Mrs. Weaver died May 27, 1872.
Mr. Weaver is & Republican. He is a member of the Evangelical church. His business course is a fine study for young men. By his example they may see the value of in- dustrious and careful habits in early youth, and the necessity of frugality and economy if any foundation is to be laid for future compe- tency. They will see that good will, hon- esty and a scrupulous regard for the comfort of others are needful to the highest success. They will further sce in the conduct and character of Mr. Weaver a pattern of excel- lence in all the relations of life, and in his quiet enjoyment of the fruits of his early diligence they may observe the substantial rewards of right living.
KEEFER, JOSEPH, SR., watch and clock maker, was born in Lower Paxton township, Dauphin county, Pa., September 10, 1820, and is a son of Joseph and Christina (Gip- ple) Keefer. Joseph Keefer (1), father of Jo- seph Keefer, Sr., died February 1, 1868, aged eighty years, one month and one day. His wife died October, 1837, aged fifty-one or fifty-two. Their children were: Elizabeth, Jacob, Sarah, Mary, Catherine, Jane, Joseph, Susan, and Annie.
Joseph Keefer, Sr., attended the subserip- tion school in Lower Paxton township one
term. When he was nine years old his par- ents moved to Upper Paxton township to a place three miles east of Millersburg, settling there in April, 1830. There Joseph was in the private school several years, and later went to the district school a part of each year until he was eighteen. For several years previous to this he had been repairing clocks and watches, and had become quite skillful in the trade which he subsequently made his occupation. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-three, and then went to work on the farm of his brother-in-law. near Oakland Mills, Juniata county, Pa. In 1844
he returned to Upper Paxton township and bought forty acres of land of his father, on which he built a house and barn and made other improvements, substantial and service- able. In 1850 he bought a farm of seventy acres, in Perry county, Pa., in Liverpool township. There, besides bis farming, he worked at his trade, and also conducted a carpet and cloth weaving business until 1866. In that year, his wife having died December 5, 1865, he went back to Upper Paxton township and lived with his parents until the spring of 1867, when he removed to Pumpkin Hill, now Rife Postoffice, in Upper Paxton township. There he worked at his trade of watch and clock making, and later opened a general store. He bought with the store twenty acres of land, which he cultivated. In 1869 Mr. Keefer sold his store and farm and bought a small farm of his father, near Millersburg, consisting of thir- teen acres. On this place he remained until 1875, when he bought his present home- stead, and in 1876 built upon it the house in which he now resides. It is a farm of nineteen acres, which he has highly im- proved and made valuable and attractive.
Joseph Keefer was married, May 2, 1843, to Christina, daughter of Philip and Cathe rine Luckenbach, born February 7, 1827. Of their eight children, three are deceased : Jacob T., born November 8, 1846, died (c. tober 6, 1881, married Margaret Dunkle, and left five children ; Sarah A., born April 13. 1850, wife of Adam Miller, died July 2, 1SS1; Rev. Daniel W., born February 4, 1859; at. tended the district schools of Perry county for a short time before the removal of the family to Upper Paxton township. where he went to winter schools and worked out among the farmers during other seasons. At tin teen years of age he began teaching school at Loyalton, Washington township, and
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then, after working for a time with his brother, Joseph P., in the woolen factory, in Cumberland county, he began his studies for the ministry. At their completion he was ordained to the sacred office, and occupied several pastorates; he was last located at Highland church, near Steelton, Pa., where he died February 19, 1892. He was an able and faithful minister, became prominent in his profession, and was honored and loved by all his parishioners. He left a wife and one child.
The surviving children of Mr. and Mrs. Keefer are : Joseph P., born October 6, 1848, married Annie Miller; Mary E., born Jan- uary 8, 1854, wife of Tobias Sheetz; Will- iam L., born February 18, 1860, resides in Florida ; John B., born May 27, 1862, studied dentistry, and is practicing at Altoona, Pa., married Mary Auxer; Rebecca Jane, born August 19, 1864, wife of Morris Shultzberger. Mrs. Keefer died December 5, 1865. Mr. Keefer was married again, December 20, 1866, to Sarah Haffley, daughter of John and Magdalena Haffley.
Mr. Keefer was formerly a Wbig, and when the Republican party came into exist- ence he united with that organization. While in Perry county he served in numerous town- ship offices. He has been for about sixty years a member of the Brethren in Christ, commonly called River Brethren ; was for many years a deacon ; in 1879 he was elected to the ministry, and still holds that sacred office.
Philip Luckenbach, father of the first Mrs. Keefer, is deceased, as is also his wife. They had a family of ten girls and six boys ; Mrs. Keefer was the youngest girl. The present Mrs. Keefer is one of seven children, one of whom, Martha, died March 19, 1896, aged sixty-eight years and five months. The surviving brothers and sisters are: Jacob, David, Elizabeth, Sophia, Nancy, and Sarah, Mrs. Keefer.
- PLAMBECK, JOACHIM HARTEWIG WILLIAM, merchant tailor, was born in Marlow, a small town in the province of Mechlenburg Schwerin, Germany, March 12, 1850. He is a son of Joachim Frederick Christopher and Maria Magdalena Augusta (Juchstock) Plam- beck. Joachim Juchstock, maternal grand- father of Mr. Plambeck, had a family of three children : Fritz, William, and Maria Magdalena Augusta.
J. F. C. Plambeck, father of J. H.W. Plam- beck is one of a family of two, the other be- ing Mary, who died at about eighteen years of age. Mr. Plambeck was born October 23, 1802. His wife, Maria M. A. Juchstock, was born October 26, 1816, and survives him. Two of their children are deceased, a son bearing the same name as J. F. C. Plambeck, and a daughter Mary; both died in child- hood. The surviving children are: Helena, widow of Christian Daden ; Fritz, married, and has four children ; Wilhelmine, wife of Heinrich Brudigam ; Joachim H. W .; Eliza, wife of Fritz Nillers; Johanna, wife of Fritz Wendt, and August Plambeck, blacksmith.
Joachim H. W. Plambeck was carefully trained and instructed in the public schools of his native place until he was fourteen, when he began an apprenticeship at tailor- ing with George Thomas, in the city of Rostock, Mechlenburg. His term of in- denture ended June 15, 1868, and he then worked as a journeyman in various places until 1872, when he began military service in an artillery regiment of the Ninth army corps in the field. His three years' term of service having expired, he resumed work as a journeyman tailor at several places in Ger- many up to 1882. He then yielded to his strong desire to see the land of free institu- tions, leaving Germany September 13, 1882, and landing at New York, September 27, 1882. He settled at Millersburg, and was employed as a journeyman by Frederick R. Gilbert until December 12, 1884, when he began business on his own account, and by his thorough knowledge of his trade, and his honorable dealing, he has built up & large and profitable business.
Mr. Plambeck is an ardent admirer of the Americans and their liberal institutions, and became a naturalized citizen September 30, 1889; he is as loyal and patriotic as any native born citizen. He began his business career as a stranger and without capital, and has attained to the enviable success he en- joys solely by his own skill and diligence. In political views Mr. Plambeck is not iden- tified with any party, but holds neutral ground. IIc attends the religious services of the Lutheran church.
.- CORDES, HENRY, train dispatcher, North- ern Central Railway, at Millersburg, was born near the harbor of Breman, king- dom of Hanover, now one of the German States, July 29, 1838. He is a son of Henry
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and Sophia Cecilia (Luebken) Cordes. Henry Cordes, Sr., was born in Hanover, Germany, grew up and married there. Part of his family preceded him to America in 1852; he and his wife emigrated in 1856. He died May 2, 1876, aged sixty-two; his wife died March 11, 1875, aged sixty. Of their nine children, five are deceased : Anna, wife of Cornelius Fink, had one child; Sophia, who married Frank Carlton ; Caroline, wife of William Young ; George, died within five weeks of Caroline's death, both dying .of trichinosis ; Margaret, wife of John C. King, had seven children : Philipina, Esther, Mar- garet, John, Louis, Elizabeth, and one de- ceased, Joseph ; Louis C., married Emma Brubaker, had three children deceased, Mar- garet and Anna were twins. The surviving children of Henry and Cecilia Cordes are: Henry; Hattie C., married Oscar Snyder, who died, and she married Charles Bohne, and after his death, Frank C. Taylor; she had one child, Oscar, son of her first hus- band; Rettie, twin of Hettie C., wife of Charles Dobson, has one child, Nellie; these twin sisters so closely resemble each other in personal appearance that their mother often failed to distinguish them; Frederick G., married Hannah Willets, has one child, Frederick, who served from the beginning to the end of the war of the Rebellion in the famous Kane's rifles, Bucktail regiment.
Henry Cordes attended the schools of his native city until he was fourteen, when he came with his sister Anna to America, sail- ing April 15, 1852, and arriving at New York, May 27, 1852. He came to Harris- burg and began an apprenticeship with his uncle, Henry Luebken, at baking; after serving two years he removed to Philadel- phia, where he was in the employ of Her- man Haupt, chief civil engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company until 1856; he then returned to Harrisburg with his parents, who had just come from Germany, and remained a short time with them. Through Dr. Butt, of Philadelphia, he was employed by the Florida Lumber Company, in the capacity of clerk, and went to Florida, where the state of his health permitted him to remain only a short time. He was then employed by Philip Walters, the brother-in- law of his uncle, to do farm work and assist in butchering on his farm in York county, Pa. He continued there until April 18, 1861, when he enlisted at Camp Curtin, Ilar-
risburg, in company B, Second Pennsylvania volunteers, Capt. John Doebler and Col. Frederick Staumback. His regiment moved from Harrisburg to the vicinity of Baltimore, and after a short stay there was sent to York, Pa., thence through Maryland and into Virginia, and thence through Baltimore to Harrisburg, where he was discharged at the end of three months' service.
Mr. Cordes remained with his parents until August 9, 1861, when he re-enlisted in the Eighteenth United States infantry, in which he served until January 25, 1865. This regiment was ordered to Columbus, Ohio, in November, 1861, was transferred to the Army of the Cumberland, at Louisville, Ky., and - participated in the campaign through Kentucky, ending in the defeat of General Zollicoffer's army at Mill Springs, after which it retired to Louisville. The movement of the regiment was then from Louisville to East Point, Ky., thence by boats down the Ohio river to the Cumber- land, up to Fort Donelson, thence to Nash- ville, Tenn., thence to Shiloh, thence to Corinth, Miss., thence to Rienzi, Blackland, Booneville, to near Holly Springs, Miss., thence back to Corinth, thence to Inka. thence to East Port Landing, crossing the Tennessee river to Alabama, whence they returned to Louisville, Ky., by way of Athens, Tuscumbia, Decatur and Salem, Ala., Deck- ard, Murfreesboro and Nashville, Tenn., Bowling Green, Mumfordsville and East Point, Ky., and reaching Louisville October 1,1862.
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