USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. III > Part 54
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A true and faithful citizen, Dr. McClel- land loyally maintained the public-spirited traditions of his family. He adhered to the Republican party, but neither sought nor desired office, albeit, as a vigilant and atten- tive observer of men and measures, of sound opinions and broad views, his ideas carried weight among those with whom he dis- cussed public problems. His charities were numerous but extremely unostentatious. He was prominent in social as well as in civil life, belonging to the Pittsburgh and University Clubs, the Pittsburgh Golf Club, and to various medical associations. He was a member of the Third Presbyterian Church.
A high order of intellect, profound and comprehensive learning and an unusual de- gree of professional skill were combined in the personality of Dr. McClelland with a genial disposition which recognized and
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appreciated the good in others. Of fine presence, his countenance bearing the im- print of his noble characteristics and his eyes, thoughtful yet penetrating, speaking at once of the thinker and the observer, he looked the man he was. The true physician and the perfect gentleman, he was, also, to the end of his life, the soldier, retaining his membership in the Grand Army of the Re- public and the Union Veteran Legion, and taking an active part in the work of both organizations.
Dr. McClelland never married, but lived with his brothers, Drs. J. H. and R. W. McClelland, the trio occupying conspicuous places in the group of the oldest and best known physicians of Pittsburgh. Biogra- phies and portraits of Drs. J. H. and R. W. McClelland appear elsewhere in this work. On August 4, 1912, Dr. McClelland closed his long career of usefulness and honor, leaving a record worthy of his noble pro- fession, the record of one whose talents were wholly consecrated to the relief and uplifting of humanity.
The family of which this high-minded physician was a representative is famous in the medical annals of Pittsburgh and the name derives much of its lustre from the character and work of Dr. John Black Mc- Clelland.
SMITH, Frank H., Civil Engineer, Financier.
The strong, true men of a people are always public benefactors. Their usefulness in the immediate and specific labors they perform can scarcely be overestimated, and the good they do through the forces they put in motion and through the inspiration of their presence and example is immeasurable. The late Frank H. Smith, of East Strouds- burg, Pennsylvania, was such a man, and so deeply did he leave his impress upon the industrial, civic and business life of the communities in which he resided at various times, that no word of eulogy is demanded for him. Results speak for him.
(I) John Smith, great-grandfather of Mr. Smith, was of Dutch ancestry, and came to this country directly from Holland. He settled at Bushkill, Pike county, Pennsylva- nia, where he raised a large family.
(II) Isaac, son of John Smith, was born near Bushkill and spent his entire life there, being occupied as a farmer and lumberman. He married Catherine Arnst, and both are buried in Coolbaugh Cemetery. Children : John, of further mention ; Catherine; Eliz- abeth ; George; Sarah ; Peter ; Louise ; May.
(III) John, son of Isaac and Catherine (Arnst) Smith, was born December 29, 1807, and died October 13, 1867. Early in life he commenced working as a blacksmith at Dingman, Pennsylvania, where he also assisted in the construction of the first bridge across the Delaware river. Later he removed to Middle Smithfield township, where he was a farmer as well as a black- smith. He was a member of the Presby- terian church, and gave his political support to the Democratic party. He married Eliz- abeth Hankinson, born in Sussex county, New Jersey, March 10, 1807, died May 12, 1878. Children : Frank H., of further men- tion ; George H., killed during Civil War, at Newberne, North Carolina ; Martha, mar- ried Frank C. Bunnell, of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania.
(IV) Frank H., son of John and Eliza- beth (Hankinson) Smith, was born at Bush- kill, Pike county, Pennsylvania, August 19, 1832, and died at East Stroudsburg, No- vember 13, 1909. The district schools of his native township furnished him with his early educational advantages, and these were supplemented by attendance at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania. For several years after leaving this institution he followed the profession of teaching with success in the State of Pennsylvania. Early in 1855, being of an energetic and ambitious nature, he removed to new fields in the State of Iowa, and while there formed a connection with Senator Trumbull, for whom he bought, sold and surveyed lands
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of large extent. Among his work of this nature was a preliminary survey for the construction of the Cedar Valley road. Subsequently, making his headquarters at Camp Creek, Black Hawk county, he commenced speculation independently, and still later conducted a general store in Chickasaw county. He returned east in 1863, and there engaged in farming on the Smith homestead, which he purchased in 1870, and made his home on this fine estate until his removal to East Strouds- burg in 1894. For many years he had been a leading spirit in financial circles in this section, and he was one of the organ- izers of the First National Bank of Strouds- burg in 1882, and was chosen its first vice- president, in 1884 was elected to the presi- dency, and was still in office at the time of his death. But it was not in financial mat- ters alone that his remarkable ability was so prominently displayed. In 1892 he pur- chased the franchise and equipment of the old horse-car line between Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg, and in association with others the company was reorganized, placed upon a sound financial basis, the motive power ultimately modernized after much opposition, and Mr. Smith, who was the chief stockholder, was elected to the presi- dency. The road was extended to Milford Crossing in 1902, and has since been oper- ated as a trolley line. Mr. Smith was one of the trustees of the State Normal School at East Stroudsburg and, while not finan- cially interested, was an active worker in the establishment of the knitting and silk mills and other industries in that section. It was chiefly owing to his efforts that the State bridge over the Brodhead creek, between Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg was constructed. He was a member of the Cool- bangh Presbyterian Church, to which he was a liberal contributor, and for many years served it as elder and active worker. Mr. Smith married, in February, 1856, Mary, born in Chestnut Hill township, Mon- roe county, Pennsylvania, in 1835, a daugh-
ter of Daniel and Mercy (Hallock) Brown, and they were the parents of children as follows: Lewis B., a physician at Bush- kill, Pennsylvania; Nellie, married John Albertson, of Warren county, New Jersey, and now residing in East Stroudsburg; Ed- ward F., of further mention ; May, who was graduated from the Model School at Tren- ton, New Jersey, taught school for a num- ber of years, and was bookkeeper in the First National Bank for twelve years; George, died at the age of nine years.
(V) Edward F., son of Frank H. and Mary (Brown) Smith, was born in Floyd county, Iowa, September 18, 1862, and was an infant when he came to the Smith home- stead, located on the Delaware river, three miles above Shawnee, Pennsylvania. His elementary education was acquired in the district schools of his township, and he then attended the John I. Blair Academy at Blairstown, New Jersey, and finally became a student at Eastman's Business College, at Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he was graduated in the class of 1884. Upon the completion of this final preparation for entrance upon the business life of the world, he engaged in agricultural pursuits for a time, and when he came to East Strouds- burg in 1892, became associated with his father in the conduct of the affairs of the Street Railway Company. He was elected to the office of secretary and general man- ager in 1895, and has since filled that office with a degree of efficiency which has been highly satisfactory to all connected with the corporation, and the public which it serves. He is also a director in the First National Bank and the Monroe Ribbon Mills. His religious affiliation is with the Stroudsburg Presbyterian Church, and fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Malta.
STAUFFER, George E., Manufacturer, Financier.
George E. Stauffer, proprietor of the Keystone Foundry, East Stroudsburg, Mon- roe county, Pennsylvania, and prominently
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identified with many enterprises of import- ance in the financial and commercial world, is a descendant of an honored German fam- ily. According to tradition the Stauffers owe their origin to a generation of knights called "Stauffacher," at Hohenstauffen, Ger- many. It is presumed by genealogists that all the Stauffer pioneers that immigrated to America at various times have the same common origin and are more or less re- motely related. Jacob Stauffer, who settled in Locust Valley, near Tamaqua, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, many years ago, was the direct ancestor of George E. Stauffer and Isaac Stauffer.
Jacob Stauffer, father of George E. Stauf- fer, was born in Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania, in 1808, and died in Tannersville, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, May 1, 1881. He was young when he removed with his parents to Northampton county, and settled near Wind Gap, and there obtained the lim- ited amount of education that the district schools of that day afforded. As soon as he had attained the proper age he was apprenticed to learn a trade, in his case it being that of a blanket weaver, and he fin- ished his apprenticeship at about the time that he came of age. About the year 1840 he obtained a contract from the government to deliver the mail through his section of the country. He went into this with the vim which characterized all that he undertook. Employing about ninety horses in carrying the mail and passengers on the various stage coach routes to which he had been assigned, the service he afforded gave the greatest satisfaction and was considered a marvel- ously swift and comfortable one for that time, although our modern opinion of it might not be exactly the same. From Easton to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on the old Wilkes-Barre turnpike, he employed thirty- two horses, or four relays, and also on the route from Easton to Honesdale, Pennsyl- vania. The mail and coach route, four horses, from Easton to Stroudsburg, also the stage and mail route from Stroudsburg
to Port Jervis, New York, and the mail and coach route from Wilkes-Barre to Hazle- ton, Pennsylvania, and several smaller routes, were included in the districts which he covered, and these were continued until the operation of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad. He also had a six- horse team which carted leather from Tan- nersville, Pennsylvania, to Philadelphia, for R. T. Downing & Company, taking about a week to make the trip.
In 1846 he came to Tannersville, where he conducted a store as a general merchant for a time. He established a foundry for the manufacture of ploughs and other farm- ing implements, and was also engaged in farming and lumbering. He was a man of many-sided ability, and was justly promi- nent in the community. He affiliated with the Republican party, and was appointed Associate Judge of Monroe county in 1875. Another business connection was with the old Stroudsburg Bank, of which he was a director many years. He was a member of the German Reformed Church of Tanners- ville, and a charter member of Barger Lodge, No. 325, Free and Accepted Masons, of Stroudsburg. Mr. Stauffer married Anna Hahn, born in 1810, died in 1895, and both are buried at Tannersville, Pennsylvania. Of their children, the following four grew to maturity : Isaac, lives at Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania ; George E., whose name heads this sketch; Kate, now deceased, married Charles Brown, of Tannersville ; Henrietta, married Wilson Kistler, now deceased, of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.
George E. Stauffer was born near Wind Gap, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, May 8, 1836, and was ten years of age when he removed with his parents to Monroe county. There he received his education in the public schools, and there he was asso- ciated with his father in the foundry busi- ness until 1870, when both foundry and resi- dence were removed to No. 268 Washington street, East Stroudsburg, and where for a period of forty-four years he has been en-
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gaged in the manufacture of ploughs, etc., and has conducted a general jobbing busi- ness. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Stroudsburg, was a member of the board of directors from the time of its inception, and has now been in office as vice-president for a number of years. For a long time he has served in office as a trustee of the State Normal School, but has now resigned. For more than forty years he has been a member of the Methodist church of East Stroudsburg, and at present is steward and trustee. He has been through all the chairs of Barger Lodge, No. 325, Free and Accepted Masons of Stroudsburg, and is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Stauffer married, January 1, 1858, Lucetta, daughter of Anthony and Mary (Bush) Seabring, and they have had chil- dren: Frances Eloise, married Spearing Shafer, and has children: Dorothy, Edith and George I .; May, married John Ingra- ham, and has: George S. and Adelaide; Myrtle, married A. Reeves J. Wallace. Mr. Stauffer stands high in the esteem of all who come in contact with him in the busi- ness or social world. His counsel is fre- quently sought in various directions, and he is ever ready to lend his assistance in furthering any project which has for its object the improvement of existing condi- tions.
STAUFFER, Isaac, Manufacturer, Capitalist.
In the foremost ranks of the progressive men of Pocono Lake, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, stands Isaac Stauffer, who though more than eighty years of age, is as energetic and active as many men far his juniors in point of years. He still attends to all his business affairs, which are numer- ous and extensive, and is respected and esteemed by his fellow citizens for the ster- ling integrity which has characterized all his
dealings throughout his long life. The earliest history of his family is referred to at length in the sketch of his brother, George E. Stauffer.
Isaac Stauffer was born near Wind Gap, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, April 13, 1834, and his education was obtained in the country school near his home. His first employment was with his father, as a driver of the stage coaches on the various routes controlled by the latter, and he followed this occupation until 1856, when he engaged in the produce and butchering business at Tannersville, continuing this until he was drafted into the army in 1862. Owing to disability he was not accepted. In 1863 he settled in Tobyhanna township, Monroe county, at South Pocono Lake, where he was engaged in lumbering. In 1874 he pur- chased a tract of five hundred acres of tim- ber land partly cleared this, and in 1894, purchased four thousand acres of timber land in the same locality, the greater part of which is still in his possession. He is en- gaged in lumbering on an enormous scale, owns a saw mill which was erected by Charles Hauser in 1851, planing, lath and shingle mills ; in 1876 he erected a clothes- pin factory, which he operated, and in 1882 he erected and personally operated a shoe- peg factory. He is also the owner of Laurel Inn, one of the prominent summer hotels in the Pocono Lake section. He was the leading spirit and promoter of the Po- cono Lake Ice Company, and other ice in- dustries in that section, which have since grown to huge proportions. He is a mem- ber of Barger Lodge, No. 325, Free and Accepted Masons, of Stroudsburg.
He married, in 1856, Anna Maria, born October 16, 1836, a daughter of John Wood- ling and Lydia Learn Woodling, and has : Alice, who married Burton Herrick, of Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Isaac Stauffer (Anna Maria Woodling) is a de- scendant of George Woodling, who emi- grated from Germany some time in 1700
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and settled in Hamilton township, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, and raised a large family ; also a descendant of Conrad Wood- ling, who served in the Mexican War.
BORNHOEFT, John J., Manufacturer, Capitalist.
John J. Bornhoeft, whose family now lives in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, for many years occupied a foremost place among men of large affairs. His operations in the business world redounded to the great advantage of the community with which he was identified, and his personal life was an exemplification of all that is becoming to the irreproachable citizen.
John Bornhoeft, his father, was born in Germany in 1811, died in New York City, January 27, 1890, and is buried in Green- wood Cemetery. He learned the trade of cabinetmaking in Germany, and was still in his teens when he emigrated to America. Arriving at New York, he followed his trade there for a number of years, later becoming a dealer in rosewood, mahogany and other fancy woods, at No. 90 Walker street, New York City. He was very suc- cessful in this line of business, and became financially interested in the Sohmer and Steinway piano manufacturing companies. In the meantime he had purchased a tract of more than 1,400 acres of heavily timbered land in Pike county, Pennsylvania, and erected a dwelling there in which he lived with his wife and family during the summer months. Some of the timber on this fine estate he converted into hammer shanks. In 1870 he retired from active business life, and spent the remainder of his life in New York City. He was a member of the Luth- eran church, and a Republican in politics. Mr. Bornhoeft married, in New York, Dora Bancker, also born in Germany, and they had children: John J., whose name heads this sketch; Margaret ; Julia ; Dora ; Annie, Johanna and Edwin.
John J. Bornhoeft was born in New York
City, August 26, 1844, and died there Feb- ruary 25, 1891. His education, a liberal one, was acquired in public and private schools, where he was taught both English and German, and he was still quite a young lad when he became a business associate of his father. The name of the firm was changed to read John Bornhoeft & Son, and after the retirement of his father he conducted the business alone until his death. He was a member of the Seventh Regiment, of New York City, enlisting March 31, 1862, in Company A, remaining until June 12, 1869 ; he was in the United States thirty- day service from June 16, 1863, to July 20, 1863. The war records of the Seventh New York Regiment were destroyed, so that it is not possible to get more detailed informa- tion. After the death of Mr. Bornhoeft his family continued to reside in New York during the winter months, but made their summer home in Pike county, Pennsylvania. Later they purchased a fine residence in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, where they have since resided. Mr. Bornhoeft married (first) Sophia, a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Daubt) Brown, of Monroe county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Bornhoeft died in 1880, and the following year Mr. Born- hoeft married her sister, Elizabeth Brown, by whom he had children: Anna M., mar- ried P. L. Voss, of East Stroudsburg; and Edna D. By the first marriage there was one son.
George J. Bornhoeft was born in New York City, where he was educated in the public schools. Upon attaining a suitable age he engaged in the hardware business, with which he was successfully identified for a period of nine years in East Strouds- burg, and he is now a representative of the Philadelphia Life Insurance Company in East Stroudsburg. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, of all the Scottish Rite bodies, and Keystone Commandery, Knights Templar, of Scranton, Pennsylvania. He married Lula, a daughter of Hon. T. Y. Hoffman.
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HESS, Jeremiah S.,
Educator, Legislator, Public Official.
Nicholas Hess, progenitor of the family of which Hon. Jeremiah S. Hess is a worthy representative, and whose ancestors are so numerously represented in Bucks and Northampton counties, Pennsylvania, was a native of Zweibruecken (Deux Ponts), on Schwarzbach (Black River), in the Pala- tinate of Pfalz, Rhenish Bavaria, Germany. He emigrated to this country when about eighteen years of age, but the exact time is not known, presumably about the year 1741, nor is it positively known in what vessel he crossed, as his name does not appear cor- rectly, if at all, among the list of immigrants at the port entry. On April 13, 1752, he received a warrant of survey for a tract of one hundred and thirteen acres of land from Thomas and Richard Penn, for the consider- ation of £17 IOS 3d, deed for which was re- corded in Philadelphia. The tract is located about twomiles south of the village of Spring- town, in Springfield township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. According to the records of the Orphans Court, Nicholas Hess died in- testate in January, 1800, and on May 6, 1800, upon the petition of Conrad Hess, the eldest son, the court ordered an appraise- ment to be made of his real estate, and the premises to be divided by an equal and just partition among all his children. Nicholas Hess was evidently a prominent and influ- ential citizen. He was one of six men who organized and established Springfield church at its present site, and erected the first stone building in the year 1763. The church was founded in 1745, and originally a log build- ing served as a place of worship. In the year 1795, Nicholas Hess being then the only surviving member of the six original elders and trustees, in order to establish a title, executed a deed conveying the church property to the members of the Lutheran and German Reformed congregations for- ever. He married, in Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, Catharine Funk, a native of Mont-
gomery county, Pennsylvania, born in 1726, youngest child of Martin Funk, who resided in Hatfield township. Children: I. Conrad, born January 22, 1746, died March 16, 1832; resident of Springtown. 2. Philip, born May 1, 1750, died 1828; resident of Springtown; soldier in 1777. 3. Elizabeth. born January 4, 1753, died November 28, 1833; married Samuel Beidelman, of Chemung, New York. 4. John George, of whom further. 5. Catharine, born Decem- ber 21, 1767, died aged thirty-two years; married Philip Beysher, of Bedminster, Pennsylvania. The mother of these chil- dren died in 1787, aged sixty-one years ; she was survived by her husband, who died at the home of his granddaughter, Mrs. Mich- ael Frankenfield, in January, 1800.
John George Hess, son of Nicholas Hess, was born in Springfield township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, April 18, 1760, died April 9, 1848. He was a miller by trade. and for a while operated what is known at present as Ehrhart's mill, on Saucon creek, near Bingen, Lower Saucon township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania. After- wards he leased what was then known as Andrew Ohl's mills, on Saucon creek, two miles north of Hellertown, Pennsylvania, where he conducted a prosperous business for a number of years. On May 27, 1805, he purchased these mills, consisting of a grist mill and a clover seed mill near by, together with the farms belonging thereto, consisting of two tracts, one of seventy- four acres and fifty-four perches, and the other of one hundred and seventeen acres, all for the sum of £2,500. After retiring from active business, he sold both mills and farm to his sons, John and Joseph, jointly, who in 1840 erected a new mill which until recent years was known as Hess' Mill. He married Elizabeth Knepley, of Tohickon Creek, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, born April 2, 1762, died May 28, 1847. Chil- dren: Jacob, George, John, Catliarine, Wil- liam, Elizabeth, Joseph, Charles, Samuel.
Rev. Samuel Hess, son of John George
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Hess, was born at Hess' Mill, Lower Sau- con township, Northampton county, Penn- sylvania, December 25, 1804, died at Heller- town, Pennsylvania, November 23, 1875. He began a course of study for the ministry under Rev. J. C. Becker, of Kreidersville, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, and continued it for four years, and in October, 1827, during a meeting of Synod at York, Pennsylvania, he was ordained in the minis- try of the German Reformed church. He immediately received the appointment as pastor of Blue Church congregation, near Coopersburg. Pennsylvania, and also Rich- landtown congregation, Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, both of which he served until he retired from the active work of the ministry in 1868, a period of forty years, and with the unusual record of being pastor of one charge. During part of that time he was also pastor of the Reformed congregation at Springfield church, and organized a con- gregation at Applebachsville, Bucks county, where, through his efforts, a church edifice was erected. He also established the Re- formed congregation which worshiped in Keller's Church, Bedminster township. His relation to the New Jerusalem Church at Leithsville, Pennsylvania, began with its organization, and to him is due the credit of doing the planning, collecting the funds, and erecting the church building at that place, in the year 1834. He also took a deep inter- est in education, and was an active factor in the establishment of schools in North- ampton county upon the enactment of the public school system. He was also for many years extensively engaged in the brick manu- facturing business on his own premises, at Hellertown. This brief account of his life plainly indicates that he was a man of public spirit and extensive influence, using all the power within his means to improve the com- munity wherein he resided.
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