USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. III > Part 33
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Joseph Francis Sinnott was a son of John and Mary (Armstrong) Sinnott, of Killy- begs, county Donegal, Ireland, and grand- son of Captain John Sinnott, of Wexford, who fought in the rebellion of 1798 and was later a sea captain, and Elizabeth (Murphy) Sinnott, a first cousin of Rev. John Murphy, the Irish patriot, and great-grandson of James Sinnott, of Castleton, whose family settled in Wexford at the time of the Nor- man Conquest, having accompanied Robert Fitz-Stephen to Ireland in 1169.
Joseph Francis Sinnott was born at Kil- lybegs, county Donegal, Ireland, February 14, 1837, died at his residence, No. 1816 South Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1906. He was well educated, taking a special course in Lord Hill's school and continuing his studies until 1854, in August of that year, coming to the United States to join relatives in Charles- ton, South Carolina. On arriving at Phil- adelphia, however, he learned of the preva- lence of yellow fever in that city and of the deaths of his grandmother and aunts, who had fallen victims to that then scourge of Southern States. He changed his plans, and first, in the custom brokerage house of Watkins & Weaver, then in the counting house of John Gibson's Sons & Company, distillers, he commenced his long, honorable and successful career. He began as assist- ant bookkeeper with the latter firm, contin- uing until President Lincoln's first call for volunteers to defend the flag aroused the patriotic blood in his veins, inherited from a long line of ancestors who on sea and land had fought and died for principle's sake. He inlisted April 25, 1861, as a private in the later famous "Washington Grays," of Philadelphia, and with that company was the first to pass through Baltimore after the attack made upon the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment. From Washington he was assigned to duty in West Virginia under Major General Robert Patterson, serving until the expiration of his term, being mus- tered out at Philadelphia, August 3, 1861.
After this military experience he returned to his position with John Gibson's Sons & Company and soon afterward was selected to manage a new agency that company had decided to establish in Boston, and there- fore was obliged to decline a captaincy in the "Rush Lancers" and to obey the call of his house. His management of the Bos- ton house was marked by the display of such ability, wisdom, tact and integrity that he won the confidence of his employers and the reward of an interest in the Boston
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branch. In 1866 he returned to Philadel- phia and was admitted a member of John Gibson's Sons & Company, one of the larg- est firms in their line in the United States. In 1884 Henry C. Gibson retired from the firm and was succeeded by Andrew M. Moore and Joseph Francis Sinnott, under the firm name of Moore & Sinnott. In 1898 Mr. Moore died, his interest being pur- chased by Mr. Sinnott, who continued sole owner until his death. Thoroughly estab- lished in profitable private business he also became interested in other Philadelphia enterprises, became a large stockholder of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, serv- ing that corporation for a great many years as director, was also many years a director of the First National Bank and manager of the Commercial Exchange.
He was a devoted member of the Roman Catholic church, the church of his fathers, and liberally strove to further its work in Philadelphia, serving on the board of man- agers of St. Charles Borromeo Theological Seminary, St. John's Orphan Asylum, St. Francis Industrial Home and the Catholic Protectory, and was a member of the Amer- ican Catholic Historical Society. Nor did his interest end with the support of insti- tutions connected with his own church, but he was associated with many of Philadel- phia's public institutions and in the general welfare of the city he had made his home for over half a century. He was a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, the Archaeological Society of Pennsylva- nia, the Pennsylvania Society of New York, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Academy of Natural Science of Phila- delphia, the Archaeological Institute of America, the Fairmount Park Art Associa- tion, and the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. In some of these his interest did not fail with his death, since his will provided a large sum to be apportioned among the in- stitutions with which he had been allied. In the hospital of the University of Penn-
sylvania there is a room especially endowed by him for the free use of sufferers who llave followed the profession of journalism, in memory of his son, Joseph E. Sinnott. The social side of his nature was strongly developed and he took a great deal of pleas- ure in associations with his fellow men. His clubs were the Penn, Art, Merion Cricket and Radnor Hunt. For two years after his marriage he resided on Warren street, Rox- bury, Massachusetts, and shortly after his return to Philadelphia he purchased from his partner, Henry C. Gibson, the latter's home and property in West Philadelphia, extending from Walnut to Locust and from Forty-second to Forty-third streets. There he lived until 1891, when he built a country seat at Rosemont, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Sinnott married, at Philadelphia, April 8, 1863, Annie Eliza Rogers, daugh- ter of Clayton Brown and Eliza (Coffin) Rogers, of Mount Holly, New Jersey. Mrs. Sinnott survives her husband, a resident of Philadelphia, No. 1816 Rittenhouse Square, and "Rathalla," Rosemont, Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Soci- ety of Colonial Dames of America, Phila- delphia Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, the Acorn Club, and of various civic and charitable organizations. Through her maternal ancestry she traces to colonial families of Massachusetts and New Jersey and through paternal lines to the earliest days in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She is sixth in descent from Lieutenant William Rogers, the founder of one branch of the Rogers family in Burlington county, New Jersey, a licutenant of militia commissioned February 17, 1705, by Governor Cornbury, of New Jersey, and a descendant of Tris- tram Coffin, Thomas Mayhew, and other noted men of New England. Clayton Brown Rogers, father of Mrs. Sinnott, was a graduate of the College of Pharmacy of Philadelphia, a merchant, ironmaster and inventor. He was a birth-right member of the Society of Friends, a director of the
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Corn Exchange, and one of the foremost men of his day.
Children of Joseph Francis and Ann Eliza (Rogers) Sinnott: 1. Joseph Edward, deceased; a graduate of Harvard Univer- sity, 1886, studied law, entered journalism, becoming connected with the editorial staff of the "Philadelphia Times," and assistant city editor ; ill health compelled his retire- ment and until his death, July 21, 1892, he was assistant to the general agent of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad. 2. Mary Elizabeth, a member of the Pennsylvania Society Colonial Dames of America, Phila- delphia Chapter, Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution, the Historical and Genea- logical Societies of Pennsylvania, and con- nected with many social and charitable organizations. 3. Henry Gibson, died Feb- ruary 14, 1899. 4. Annie Leonora, married Dr. John Ryan Devereux, a graduate of the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, lecturer, professor of medi- cine at Georgetown College, assistant sur- geon during the Spanishi-American war and commissioned first lieutenant in the United States Army, June 29, 1901, now at Chevy Chase, Maryland ; children : Joseph Francis Sinnott, Margaret Mary, John Ryan Jr., James Patrick Sinnott, Annie Leonora Sin- nott, Julian Ashton, Edward Winslow Cof- fin, Mary Frederica, Agnes Sinnott and Anthony Tristram Coffin. 5. Clinton Rog- ers, married Grace Hamilton. 6. James Frederick, deceased ; married Edith Hynson Howell, and had children : James Frederick Jr., Annie Eliza, Mary Howell. 7. John, matriculated at the Universities of Cornell and Pennsylvania, now president of the Gib- son Distilling Company, a member of the Art, Racquet, Country, and Merion Cricket clubs, and the Colonial Society of Pennsyl- vania; married Mary Henrietta, daughter of Judge Luce, of San Diego, California, and resides at Villanova, Pennsylvania ; children : Joseph Francis and Edgar Luce. 8. Clarence Coffin, married Mary Lanihan, and resides in Jefferson City, Montana ; children : James Coffin and Katherine.
LAUBACH, Edward H.,
Successful Business Man, Legislator.
A successful business man, a loyal citizen, a good friend and neighbor, the career of Hon. Edward H. Laubach, of Northamp- ton, Pennsylvania, is one that is peculiarly pleasant to trace. Although deprived of the care of a father at the age of eleven years, he grew to manhood under good influence and after completing his college years assumed his father's place as the head of the family and manager of the estate, advanc- ing in the regard of his fellowmen until elevated to the highest political gift in the county, State Senator. This endorsement from the people among whom his life had been spent correctly gauges the estimate they placed upon his character and is evi- dence of the high esteem in which he is held by those who know him best.
The Laubach family was founded in Pennsylvania in 1738, Christian Reinhardt and Marguerite Laubach arriving at Phil- adelphia on September 16 of that year. They were natives of the Palatine, Ger- many, and sailed from Rotterdam for Amer- ica on the ship "Queen Elizabeth," Alexan- der Hope, master. Christian Reinhardt Laubach settled in Lower Saucon township, now Northampton county, and from him spring all of the name tracing to the emi- grant.
Peter Laubach, born in January, 1734, eldest son of Christian Reinhardt Laubach, accompanied his father to Lower Saucon township and there remained until about 1755, when he moved to near Kreidersville, Pennsylvania, and there died in 1818, aged eighty-four years. His grave is in Zion's Union Churchyard near Kreidersville.
Adam Laubach, second son of Peter Lau- bach, bought the old homestead at Kreid- ersville and in addition to a fine farm owned and operated a blacksmith shop. He mar- ried, in 1788, Margaret Newland, of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, who hore him eleven children, five of them sons. From Adam Laubach sprang the father of Samuel and
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Edw. H. Laubach
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
grandfather of Edward H. Laubach, of Catasauqua.
Samuel Laubach succeeded his father in the milling business in Northampton county, and in addition was engaged in a large and profitable mercantile business. He married Lucy Hess, of Northampton county, who survived him, from his death in 1863 until her own demise in Catasauqua, she at the time making her home with her son, Edward H. Laubach. Children : Samuel Laubach ; Edward H., of whom further; Allen D .; Peter J .; Samuel; Amanda, married J. F. DeLong, of Bethlehem.
Edward H. Laubach, son of Samuel and Lucy (Hess) Laubach, was born in North- ampton county, Pennsylvania, in Septem- ber, 1852. His father died when he was eleven years of age, but his mother, a wise, prudent and Christian woman, carefully reared and educated her son. He attended public school until twelve years of age, then entered the institution that later became Muhlenberg College, Allentown. He con- tinued his studies there for two years, then spent two years at Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Although his tastes and inclinations were professional, duty called him to the management of his father's estate. He at once assumed control on leaving college, engaged in the mercantile and milling business and has since been actively engaged in business in Northamp- ton. His activities are large and varied, one of his large interests being the Northampton Brewing Company, of which he is presi- dent.
Mr. Laubach is a lifelong Democrat and has always been a worker for party suc- cess. When but little past legal age, he was elected a member of the County Committee and for many years continuously held that position, often being chairman of the com- mittee. He served for several years as member of the State Democratic Commit- tee, was a frequent delegate to state con- ventions and served as chairman of import- ant committees. While never an office
seeker, he often served as school director of the township, but never held public office until November, 1890, when he was elected State Senator from Northampton county. His long experience in political life as mem- ber and chairman of the county committee was of value to him as a legislator and enabled him to be of great value to his dis- trict. In 1894 he was renominated and on November 6 following was again elected, this being the first instance of a senator succeeding himself in Northampton county. To the duties of his office he devoted him- self, exercising painstaking diligence and diplomacy, obtaining recognition as a man of ability, occupying prominent position in the Senate and in public regard.
In 1876 Mr. Laubach married Elizabeth, daughter of James Stewart, of Catasauqua. Children : Mabel S., Samuel T., James H.
KUNKEL, Paul Augustine, Lawyer, Public Official.
The bar of Dauphin county has always been distinguished for its diligent and pains- taking members. Since his admission to the bar in 1888, Paul Augustine Kunkel has steadily applied himself and assiduously practiced his profession, and accordingly holds a responsible place at the forefront.
He is a descendant of an old German family, founded in Pennsylvania by John Christian Kunkel, who came from the Fath- erland (Palatinate) September 23, 1766, and engaged as a private in the Revolution- ary struggle for independence. He had located at York, Pennsylvania.
The descent is through his son, Christian Kunkel, who became a merchant in York, and in 1786 removed to Harrisburg, where he engaged in the same business until his death in 1823. He was one of the organ- izers of the First German church. In 1796 he was burgess of the boroughi, and fre- quently a member of the council. In 1809 he was appointed by Governor Snyder a commissioner for the erection of a bridge
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over the Susquehanna river, and in the same year he was elected one of the direc- tors of the Harrisburg Branch of the Phil- adelphia Bank. He was twice married; first to Catharine Hoyer, and upon her death to Anna Maria Elizabeth Welshofer.
George Kunkel was the eldest son by the first wife, and he became a prosperous mer- chant of Harrisburg, married Catharine Ziegler, and among their children was George Ziegler Kunkel, the father of Paul Augustine Kunkel; and John C. Kunkel, lawyer and congressman.
George Ziegler Kunkel, the second son of George and Catharine (Ziegler) Kunkel, was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Feb- ruary 7, 1820, and died October 24, 1905. He enjoyed the usual school education of his day, and entered his father's store, located on Front street, which was the busi- ness thoroughfare. He was subsequently engaged for a short time in the hardware business, and then became a clerk in the Harrisburg Bank, which he resigned to accept a position in the Dougherty Bank, and then in its passing became an owner with J. C. Bomberger, in 1850, in what was known as the Mechanics Bank, in which he remained actively engaged in work to within a month of his death. He was a superintendent of the Salem Reformed Sun- day school for many years, and for more than fifty years an elder in the congrega- tion. He had been a member of the board of trustees of the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church in the United States at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for many years. On December 28, 1852, he married Sarah Isabella Herr, daughter of Daniel Herr, and sister of the late Senator A. J. Herr, deceased. She died January 17, 1905. Their children were: I. Mary, born No- vember 1, 1853, died September 15, 1863. 2. George, born March 11, 1855; Judge of the Courts of Dauphin county; married Mae Minster, of Philadelphia, and has children : George Jr., William Minster, Daniel Herr and Cecilia. 3. Daniel Herr, born January
15, 1857, died April 21, 1880. 4. William Henry, born November 23, 1858, died No- vember 21, 1862. 5. Sarah Isabella, born October 5, 1860, died November 21, 1861. 6. Anna Catharine, born October 22, 1862; married Edwin C. Thompson, president of the Citizens' Bank of Harrisburg, Pennsyl- vania, and secretary of the J. Horace Mc- Farland Company, Harrisburg, Pennsylva- nia, son of James B. and Martha (Reily) Thompson. 7. Paul Augustine, of whom further. 8. Caroline Beecher, born Novem- ber 13, 1866, died November 26, 1899; mar- ried Christian G. Nissley, editor of the Har- risburg "West End Reporter," and has chil- dren: Isabel, Anna Ober and Catharine Kunkel.
Paul Augustine Kunkel was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, September 13, 1864. He was educated at the Harrisburg Academy, graduating in 1882, was further educated at Yale College and Franklin and Marshall College, at which latter he gradu- ated as valedictorian in 1886. In 1887 he made a tour of Europe. After reading law the required period he was admitted to the Dauphin county bar, October 8, 1888. Dur- ing the legislative sessions of 1888-89-91 he was a newspaper correspondent for a large number of newspapers throughout the State. He was a charter member of the "Gov- ernor's Troop," organized in 1888, National Guard of Pennsylvania, and served a com- plete enlistment, holding the rank of ser- geant. He was a charter member of the Pennsylvania German Society. He has been reporter for the Pennsylvania County Court Reports since 1888, and is the author of a law book published in 1902 on the law of nominations in Pennsylvania. When the State Board of Law Examiners was insti- tuted in 1903 he was appointed by the Su- preme Court of Pennsylvania a member, which position he still holds. For fifteen years he served as solicitor for the active borough of Middletown, and his services have been engaged at times by other bor- oughs. In 1901 he was a candidate in his
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Reuben S. Wennich
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
ward, which was then the Sixth Ward, con- taining one-fourth of the population of the city, for the office of school director on the Republican ticket, but although he had been warned that he would be defeated because the Republicans had made an alliance with the Democratic candidate he stood for the office notwithstanding, and was defeated by his own party by one hundred and twenty- five votes. In 1911 he became an independ- ent candidate for the office of district attor- ney at the solicitation of a great number of electors and the public demand. The inde- pendent movement found concrete ex- pression under the names of Keystone and Democratic parties, by which he was nomi- nated and his name placed upon the official ballot. Technically under the law no elector could make but one cross on the ballot, but a number of very earnest electors, empha- sizing their intention to vote for Mr. Kun- kel, placed two crosses opposite his name on the ballot, which ballots certain election boards failed to count, and at the official computation Mr. Kunkel lacked one hun- dred and thirty-six votes of a majority. Thereupon a contest was instituted and the ballot boxes brought into court were found to have been opened and badly damaged, and the search of said ballot boxes failed to find more than sixty or more uncounted votes. Mr. Kunkel is a member of the Salem Reformed Church, superintendent of the Sunday school, and has been prominent in the laymen's missionary movement. He also served a term as president of the Dau- phin County Sunday School Association. He is also a member of the Harrisburg Rotary Club, a civic and business organiza- tion.
He married, November 23, 1893, Belle King, a daughter of Arthur King, of Middletown, Pennsylvania. They are the parents of Arthur King, a student in Frank- lin and Marshall College; Mary and Lydia, attending Seiler's School for Girls in Harris- burg; Paul Augustine Jr., attending the public school.
WENRICH, Reuben D., M. D.,
Proprietor Grand View Sanatorium.
Reuben D. Wenrich, M. D., a graduate of the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, and a lifelong medical practitioner, adds to the skill of the medical man the acute sagacity of the trained man of business. He is best known in Werners- ville, but all over the United States is known as the proprietor and manager of the Grand View Sanatorium, situated at South Moun- tain, two miles south of Wernersville, one of the leading resorts of the United States. For thirty-five years Dr. Wenrich has been connected with this institution, which for thirty years prior to 1879 had been con- ducted by other parties under the name of Mountain Home. As the demands of his own institution made increased demands upon his time he gradually withdrew from other activity, and for many years he has given the Grand View Sanatorium the full benefit of his skill, knowledge and experi- ence.
Dr. Wenrich is a descendant of an old Berks county, Pennsylvania, family, long settled in Heidelberg township, three gen- erations of his ancestors, Matthias (1), Matthias (2) and Matthias (3), the latter his grandfather, having owned and culti- vated the farm in Heidelberg that from 1739 until 1889 was continuously in the family name. Adam Wenrich, father of Dr. Wenrich, was a farmer of Heidelberg township. He married Eliza Klopp. He died in 1851, aged forty-seven years; his wife in 1877, aged sixty-eight years.
Dr. Reuben D. Wenrich, the youngest son and fourth of the children of Adam and Eliza (Klopp) Wenrich, was born in Lower Heidelberg township, Berks county, Penn- sylvania, May 15, 1842. He attended public schools until fourteen years of age, then continued his studies in advanced institu- tions of learning located in Womelsdorf, Stouchsburg, Pughtown, Trappe and Millersville. In 1861 he completed a full
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course in Duff's Commercial College at Philadelphia. During the winter months from 1858 to 1862 he taught in the public schools, but he had resolved upon the pro- fession of medicine as his life work. In the spring of 1862 he became a medical student under the direction of Dr. D. D. Detweiler, of Trappe, spent the summer in the latter's office, and the following summer studied under Dr. William J. Shoener, at Strauss- town, Berks county, Pennsylvania. During the winter months he attended lectures at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1864 was graduated from that time honored institution with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
Dr. Wenrich established in practice in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, the year of his graduation, and for ten successive years carried on his large practice alone. He then entered into partnership with Dr. James W. Deppen, of Wernersville, a physician of experience and skill. The partners, in addi- tion to their medical practice, conducted a general store and dealt in lumber, coal and lime, continuing until 1879 in their dual capacity as physicians and merchants.
In 1879 they purchased the Mountain Home, a well-known health institution located two miles from Wernersville on South mountain. They at once assumed charge of the home and as its popularity increased they gradually withdrew from business in Wernersville. They jointly managed the home until Dr. Deppen's death in 1895, that event terminating a pleasant association of over twenty years. On the settlement of Dr. Deppen's estate Dr. Wen- rich became sole owner of the institution, now known as Grand View Sanatorium, having been changed on Dr. Deppen's death. He has added largely to the grounds by purchase until the estate now comprises six hundred acres of farm and wood lands. Costly and permanent improvements have been made to the Sanatorium, which with its commodious appointments, electric light and steam heating plant, is recognized as
one of the most desirable of health resorts. The natural advantages of the site are many ; pure air and water, with the magnificent view of the Lebanon and Lancaster valleys, form a chain of advantages unsurpassed anywhere. The excellent management of the Sanatorium and its high reputation as a health resort attracts from all over the United States a large patronage of people of the better class. While for many years Dr. Wenrich has given the Sanatorium his undivided attention he encouraged the estab- lishment of the Wernersville National Bank, and since its foundation in April, 1906, has served as one of the directors.
Dr. Wenrich married, in 1865. Sarah, daughter of Moses Gockley, of Werners- ville. Children: 1. Dr. George G., a gradu- ate of the University of Pennsylvania, med- ical department, now a member of the med- ical staff of Grand View Sanatorium; mar- ried Anna May Coar. 2. Dr. John A., a graduate of the State University, medical department, now associated with his father and brother on the staff of the Grand View Sanatorium ; married Grace Alvana Gaddes. 3. Eva A., married Alvin J. Gibbs, of Can- ton, Ohio. Mrs. Sarah (Gockley) Wen- rich, died in 1896, aged forty-eight years. She was a great-granddaughter of John Gockley, who settled in Cocalico township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, prior to 1790.
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