Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, Part 34

Author: Floyd, J.L., & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, J. L. Floyd & Co.
Number of Pages: 1090

USA > Pennsylvania > Northumberland County > Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 1 > Part 34

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mained at home, assisting his father with the farm work until twenty-four years of age, since when he has been living at his present location. He has a tract of seventy acres, bought of Lewis Chamber- lin in 1873, lying along Irish creek, and besides this is half owner of another farm in Shamokin township. In addition to general farming and trucking he has engaged in lumbering to some ex- tent, and has prospered in all his various under- takings. His natural mechanical ability has been of great use to him in his work, enabling him to do many things for himself, and his handiness has not only saved him hiring much work done but has

Mr. Chamberlin married Margaret C. Grove, who was born May 15, 1856. daughter of Joseph Valley, later of Shamokin township, and they have had a large family, born as follows: Elleroy, Dec. 26, 18:2 (died Ang. 12, 1816) ; Margaret E., Dec. 22, 1877 (married Samnel A. Kopenhafer) : Mary E., Nov. 21, 1879 (married Frank Fahrens- worth) ; Carrie V., Oct. 3, 1881 (married William A. Snyder) ; Lettie M., Sept. 5, 1883 (married Emanuel Smith ) ; Hattie I., Jan. 18. 1886: Ellis R., July 10, 1888 (died Jan. 29, 1890) : Zella D., Dec. 23, 1890; Percy A., Aug. 20. 1892: Prossie M., Nov. 7, 1893 ; Florence A., Jan. 28. 1898.

offices of treasurer and supervisor. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding membership in Elysburg Lodge, No. 414.

Lemiel Chamberlin, son of Joseph, was born Dec. 16, 1823, and lived and died in Shamokin township, passing away Jan. 20, 1906. When a ABRAHAM H. REED, a prosperous farmer of Shamokin township, was born there Nov. 16, 1846. son of Jacob Reed, and is a representative of a family which has been well and favorably known in Northumberland county for over one hundred and thirty-five years. It was founded here by young man he learned wheelwrighting. and for some time followed that trade, eventually buying part of the old homestead. where he followed farm- ing until seventeen years before his death. For four years he lived in Jefferson county, this State. returning thence to the homestead, where he died. Jacob Reed, whose posterity is now numerous in On Oct. 17, 1850, Mr. Chamberlin married Mar- this section. ranking among the most substantial and. useful citizens and most highly respected members of their various communities. garet Hoffman, daughter of John C. and Catherine (Dunlap) Hoffman. She died July 14, 1889, aged sixty-five years, eight months, seventeen days. the Jacob Reed was born in England in 1200. and married a Miss Wolford, a uative of Switzerland. They came to Berks county, Pa .. where a son Jacob was born. and later removed to Lebanon. Pa .. where a son Casper was born. mother of two children, Joseph H. and John M., both residents of Shamokin township. Mr. Cham- berlin's second marriage was to Ida Bowers, by whom he had one son. Lenmel M .. who is now liv- ing in Jefferson county.

Jacob and Casper Reed. brothers, came from Berks county to Northumberland in 1:24, being among the carly pioneers in the region where they

JOSEPH H. CHAMBERLIN. son of Lemuel, was born July 31, 1831, in Shamokin township, where he is now engaged in farming. He obtained his settled. They took up about five hundred acres of

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land in what is now Shamokin and Ralpho town- went to the academies at Lewisburg and Ely-burg. ships, which land is still owned by their descend- In his early manhood he taught school for three terms, in Shamokin township. He then settled down to farming, locating on his present place near Paxinos, where he erected a fine residence in 1908. All the other buildings on the farm have been improved and kept in excellent condition since the place came into his possession, and he has the reputation of being a thorough business man, which the success of his various undertakings bears out well. He has 130 acres of fine land, all under cultivation, and in agricultural matters and affairs of general interest is considered one of the leading men in his district, a typical member of the substantial old family to which he belongs. He has served as auditor of his township. ants. Jacob Reed was one of the foremost men of his time in the community. He was a skilled me- chanie, as a worker both in iron and wood, carry- ing on such work in connection with farining. having a blacksmith and carpenter shop; he had natural. ability as well as training for mechanical work, and was successful and enterprising in every- thing he undertook. Much of the progress of the valley in his dav owed its initiation to him. He was a promoter, in fact the chief advocate for the organization, of St. Jacob's Lutheran Church, which was named in his honor, and he was the largest contributor toward its foundation and sup- port, his skill as a tradesman enabling him to do much more than most of the organizers and sup- porters ; his brother, Casper Reed, donated much of the land for the cemetery. In politics Jacob Reed was a Whig.

In Berks county Jacob Reed had married Eliza- beth Dreher, and they had a family of nine chil- dren: John, Jacob, David, Matthias, Salome (married John Hursh), Catharine (married George Hower), Magdaline (married John Smith), Eva (married Daniel Haas) and Eliza- beth (married William H. Muench, a noted school- master of his time).

John Reed, eldest son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Dreher) Reed, was born June 5, 1780, upon the homestead at Reed's station, and himself owned the old Reed homestead, which is now the proper- ty of the Martz family. He was a well known and highly respected man of his day, and lived to a good old age, dying Aug. 26, 1865, at the age of eighty-five. His wife, Eva G. (Gillinger), born in 1787, died May 11, 1876. They are buried at Reed's church, in Ralpho township. Their chil- dren were: Jesse: Maria, Mrs. John Lake: Jacob: Elizabeth, Mrs. Casper Scholl; Hannah, Mrs. Solomon Martz: and Eva C., who married William Zuern, this couple moving to Colorado. -

Jacob Reed, son of John Reed, was born at Reed's station in 1812, and died Jan. 10, 1852. He is buried at Recd's church. He took the old homestead, which he cultivated all his life. He married Maria Hoffman, who was born Nov. 13. 1818, and six children were born to this union: Elizabeth, who married Herman Campbell; Jane. who died unmarried : John, who died unmarried : Abraham H .: Lydia. who married Peter Over- dorf ; and Jacob G., a resident of Sunbury. After Mr. Reed's death Mrs. Reed married (second) Daniel Hummel, who was born Sept. 8. 1814, and died Feb. 10, 1874 ; she died Jan. 18, 190%. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Hummel are buried in the United Brethren cemetery in Shamokin township. -

Abraham H. Reed obtained his early education in the common schools near his home. and later

Mr. Reed married, Feb. 25, 1875, Lucy A. Boughner, daughter of Peter and Margaret ( Reply) Boughner, of Ralpho township, this county. They have no children, Mr. Reed is a Lutheran, holding membership in St. Jacob's (Reed's) Church. Politically he is a Republican.

WILLIAM H. MORGAN, late of Northumber- land, was a prosperous merchant of that borough for almost forty years, and at one time served as postmaster there. He was a self-made man,. uni- versally respected, and was long classed among the best and most enterprising citizens of his com- munity.

Mr. Morgan was born Oct. 13, 1839, at North- umberland, son of Henry and Sarah Morgan. Both the parents were born and reared in Chillis- quaque township, where they lived until their re- moval to the borough in 1828. They had a family of eight children, of whom Thaddeus G. settled in Chillisquaque township. Martin L., William H. and Mrs. John Ulp lived in Northumberland, and Samuel B. in Watsontown.

William H. Morgan began life humbly. When a boy of thirteen he husked corn for the sum of twenty-five cents a day, and when a few years older drove mule teams for varions employers, and was engaged as a clerk in the grocery store, of Samuel Burkenbine, at the locks. In May, 1861. he enlisted in the Union service. becoming a ineu- ber of Company B, 5th Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserves, the company being commanded by Cap- tain Taggart ( who was killed in the war) and composed principally of men from Northumber- land and vicinity. Mr. Morgan served three full years, and had a fine record as a soldier. At the second battle of Fredericksburg he was wounded in the foot and captured. being confined for a month in Libby prison.

Returning to Northumberland after the war Mr. Morgan clerked about a year for W. T. Forsyth. In 1865 he and J. C. Forsyth bought the grocery business at the locks, which they carried on in part-

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nership until 18:5, after which Mr. Morgan con- tinned the store alone until 1885, when he sold out to Evans Brothers. Purchasing the McFarland property on the corner of Queen street and Depot alley, he renovated some parts of the building, converting one room into a store room, and was in the city buying a stock of shoes for the store he expected to open when fire (supposedly of incen- diary origin) partly destroyed the building. As it was built of brick, and the fire department re- sponded promptly, it was not ruined, though con- siderably damaged, and new repairs were neces- sary. The building was long considered one of the most ereditable business and residence struc- tures in the borough, being of substantial con- struetion and well kept up by the owner. Mr. Morgan built up an excellent trade as a shoe merchant, continuing in the business until his death, which occurred Dec. 21. 1904. Meantime, in 1894, during President Cleveland's second ad- ministration, he received the appointment of post- master. By economy and thrift in his younger years he obtained a fair start, and by continued in- dustry and devotion to business he gained sub- stance and standing that made him one of the most esteenied residents of Northumberland, a man looked up to for his honorable life and high stan- dards of eondnet. He was a member of the Metho- dist Church, though his family belong to the Luth- eran denomination, and socially was an active member of Capt. James Taggart Post, No. 350, G. A. R., and of the Masonic lodge at Northum- berland. At one time he also held membership in the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He had numerous friends.

In 1822 Mr. Morgan married Annic E. Stroh. daughter of John S. Stroh. who came to Pennsyl- vania in the early days, making the journey in a Conestoga wagon, a favored method of transporta- tion at the time. Mrs. Morgan proyed of great assistance to her husband in the conduct of his business. Thirteen children were born to them, two of whom are deceased. the survivors being : Minnie A., wife of Harry Barnhart. living in Point township (she was a trained nurse before her .mar- riage) ; Gertrude B .. who grachiated from the Bloomsburg . State. normal school and was a suc- cessful public school teacher for three terms in Michigan before her marriage to Edward Northy. of Calumet. Mich .. where they reside: Estelle, married to Homer Derk and residing at Northuni- berland ; Mary J., a seamstress, who lives at home ; Sarah. a milliner, of Philadelphia : John S .. night clerk for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Sunbury, Pa .: George V .. of Northumberland : Elsie, clerk in George M. Howell's store at North- umberland; Rachel C., a clerk in Northumber- land : Helen [. and Ruth E., both of whom are attending school.

LLOYD T. ROHRBACH, late of Sunbury, commeneed his active career as a lawyer, was for several years in his earlier manhood quite prom- inent in official-especially court-circles in Northumberland county, and for many years be- fore his decease was one of the foremost business men of this section of Pennsylvania. Though his commercial interests became large and varied, he always kept in touch with the public and political life of the county, and for years was one of the most valuable workers in the Republican party in the State. He was born Jan. 22, 1839, in Upper Augusta township, Northumberland Co., Pa., and died at his home on Chestnut street, in the borough of Simbury, March 8, 1909.

The Rohrbach family is of German origin and its members were among the early settlers of eastern Pennsylvania. The grandfather of Lloyd T. Rohrbach lived and labored in that section, de- voting himself to his business affairs. He was a successful and influential man of his day, although he had no aspirations toward public honors and took no part in anything outside of his private interests. For many years he conducted a charcoal furnace in conjunction with farming. He married Catherine Fenstermacher, and to them was born a large family.

George Rohrbach, father of Lloyd T. Rohrbach, was born in 1808 in Columbia county. Pa. He early became interested in the iron industry and continued to follow the foundry and furnace busi- ness all his active days. In 1838 he moved to Northumberland county, locating in Upper Angus- ta township, where he resided a few years, after- ward removing to Sunbury. There he lived for more than half a century, until his death, in 1894. He was an active member of the Lutheran Church and one of the founders of the church of that de- nomination in Sunbury, in which congregation he served as trustee for a long time and also held other official position. He married Mary C. Art- ley, who died in 1887. at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. They had a family of nine children, two of whom died in infancy, those who reached maturity being: Clinton carried on lum- bering and farming as well as the foundry busi- ness, and died in Upper Augusta township: he married Sarah Engle. Jacob engaged in the foundry business, was afterward postmaster at Sunbury, and subsequently lived in retirement. Elizabeth is the widow of Thomas G. Cooper. of Sunbury. Catherine, widow of Harry Bourne, also lives at Sunbury. Lloyd T. is mentioned be- low. Edward died at the age of eighteen years. William was engaged in the foundry business for many years and later was superintendent at the Sunbury waterworks.

Lloyd T. Rohrbach began his education in the publie schools of Sunbury. receiving his higher training at the Missionary Institute (now known

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as Susquehanna University) at Selin-grove, from industrial development of the borough. He was which he was graduated in 1861, and at Pennsyl- interested in the Sunbury Nail, Bar and Guide vania College, Gettysburg, where he spent the Iron Manufacturing Company, of which he was freshman year of his college life, finishing at treasurer, and assisted in organizing, in 1882, the Selinsgrove. In April, 1861, he became a soldier Sunbury Water Company, now grown to vast in the Union army, becoming a member of Com- proportions, which he served as secretary and treas- pany F, 11th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, urer. of which company he served as clerk. During his About four years before his death, which oe- eurred March 8, 1909, at his home on Chestnut street, Sunbury, Mr. Rohrbach retired, being in- capacitated by ill health to such an extent that he took no further part in affairs of importance. Of his previous activity the Sunbury Daily Item said at the time of his death: "While his business in- terests were multiple, he attended to the exacting details with a master hand and rare ability, and enjoyed the proud distinction of having the un- measured confidence and esteem of the public at. large. He was always quick to further any pro- ject having for its object the betterment of the community's . interests. * service of about three months he took part in the battle of Falling Waters, Md. Going to Harris- burg, he was assigned to a position in the auditor general's office. On his return to Sunbury he taught school in the old academy which stood on the present site of the former Masonic Temple building on Third street, and took up the study of law in the office of Horatio Wolverton, finishing his legal course with Judge William M. Rocke- feller, of Sunbury. He was admitted to the bar of this county in 1865 and began the practice of his profession in Sunbury, giving the greater part of his time and attention to law work until 1872. * * The deceased lived a life that was crowded with many accom- plishments and good deeds. To his friends he was stanch and true, in spite of any ordeals that might During this time he had won a place in the con- fidence of his fellow citizens and become very well known, his success being notable. Meantime, how- ever, he had begun his association with the official spring up, and never turned a deaf ear when ap- life of the county. In 1868 he was appointed pealed to for a favor or helping hand. He was a United States commissioner, which office he con- public benefactor in all that it implies, regardless tinued to fill until he resigned it in 1872 to take of his personal interests. In his home life he' was that of prothonotary and clerk of Orphans' court, a kind, devoted husband and father."

to which he had been elected. By reelection, in Though always progressive and aggressive in 1875, he was continued in that position for six his business life to such an extent that his success years in all. Though a Republican in a county seemed inevitable, Mr. Rohrbach was always pleas- conceded at the time to have a normal Democratic ant and cordial in his manner and genial to all majority of from 1,200 to 1,500 votes, Mr. Rohr-, with whom he came in contact, finding time for the bach was first elected by a majority of 600 and amenities as well as the necessities of existence, reelected by a majority of 300. Though not much and making himself agreeable in all his relations. in office after giving up his court work he con- Temperate in his acts and principles, large-hearted tinued to hold an influential place in the councils and liberal in his views, he was not only a citizen of his party, local. State and national. tintil the valued in his own community, but one who would

end of his active life, was a Presidential elector in

have been an accession to any community. He

1892, and in 1896 was a prominent candidate for was a member of the First Presbyterian Church the nomination for State treasurer: he had a and one of its leading workers and supporters, strong following, but withdrew his name before serving many years as elder of that congregation. the balloting began. He served several years as Socially he belonged to Sunbury Lodge, No. ??. F. & A. M., and to the Masonic chapter. He was member of the Sunbury school board.

The extensive business interests, gradually ac- buried in Pomfret Manor cemetery, and during quired by Mr. Rohrbach after he entered busi- the funeral the prothonotary's office was closed as ness life in 1878, in time came to require the a mark of respect to one who had worthily filled principal part of his time and it was probably in the office in his day. this connection that he made his widest reputa-

On Dec. 20. 1866. Mr. Rohrbach was married tion. In 1878 he began the manufacture of lime, to Jennie C. Haas, who was born Nov. 6, 1846, and in conjunction therewith also dealing in coal and died April 10, 1902. They were the parents of ice, and he continued that business with some three children: John Haas (deceased). George variations as long as he was in active association Edward and William R.

with such interests. Several years before his re- JOHN HAAS, father of the late Mrs. Lloyd T. tirement he gave up the lime business, carrying on Rohrbach, was born June ?2. 1822. in Shamokin the ice and coal trade and the manufacture of township, Northumberland county, one of the briek, in which he was interested with his two eleven children of Daniel and Eva ( Reed) Haas. sons. No man in Sunbury was more prominently His early days were spent on his father's farm, identified with undertakings of importance in the but when a young man he engaged in the merean-

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tile business aud in coal mining, spending many Presbyterian Clmirch, with which he and his wife years at the latter business. He was a member of unite. the firms of John Haas & Co. and Haas & Fagely, of Shamokin, . both well known concerns in their day. Retiring from the coal business in 1875,

On Christmas Day, 1905, Mr. Rohrbach mar- ried Laura Irene Welker, daughter of Cares and Abbie (Clement) Welker, of Sunbury. They re- he became interested in the Sunbury Nail Works, side in the homestead of his father on Chestnut street. Mrs. Rohrbach is a member of Fort Angusta Chapter. D. A. R., of Sunbury, and is prominent in social and civic circles. She mani- fests at all times an intelligent and devoted in- terest in the affairs of her husband, to whoin she is a charming companion.

with which he was identified until 1894, resigning the position of president that year. His other business associations were numerous and impor- tant. He was president of the Sunbury Water Com- pany, a director of the First National Bank, one of the first directors of the Shamokin, Sunbury & Lewisburg Railroad, and for many years presi- dent of the board of directors of the Missionary Institute (now 'Susquehanna University), at Selinsgrove. He was also prominent in religious work, serving thirty-five years as elder in the Lutheran Church of Sunbury, and for thirty years he was superintendent of the Sunday school of that church. In politics he was a Republican.

Mr. Haas married Mary Gheen, and they had a family of four children : John Packer, born Sept. 30, 1849, now deceased : Jennie Clementine, who became the wife of Lloyd T. Rohrbach: Mary Alice, who was the wife of the late Dr. C. M. Mar- tin ; and Louisa, who died in infancy.

GEORGE EDWARD ROHRBACH, son of Lloyd T. Rohrbach, was born in Sunbury Nov. 24, 1869. He received his education in the public schools there and gained a thorough business training as assistant to his father. At the age of eighteen years he became a member of the firms of Lloyd T. Rohrbach & Sons and the Sunbury Water Company, retaining his connection with the for- mer concern until 1909, when he sold his interest therein to his brother, William R. When he en- tered the firm it was extensively engaged in deal- ing in coal and ice (now handling ice only), the wholesale coal business being relinquished in Jan- uary, 1903, when George E. Rohrbach became man- ager of the Sunbury Water Company. Mr. Rohr- bach has continued his interest in the Sunbury Water Company, of which concern-now grown to large proportions-he is secretary : is a director of the First National Bank of Sunbury; and has large holdings in a Southern lumber concern. He has devoted considerable time to local matters affecting the general welfare, having served since 1903 as a trustee of the Mary M. Packer hospital (succeeding his father on the board), was a mem- ber of the borough council for eight years, from 1896 to 1904, and has been an active worker in the Republican party. serving as committeeman for the First ward. He has numerous social con-

WILLIAM R. ROHRBACH, son of Lloyd T. Rolir- bach, was born in Sunbury, March 5, 1876. He graduated from the Sunbury high school in 1895, and the same fall entered Susquehanna University, at Selinsgrove, Pa. He entered Bucknell College, at Lewisburg, Pa., in 1899, and graduated in 1900, after which he became connected with his father, Lloyd T. Rohrbach, in 1901 becoming a member of the firm of Lloyd T. Rohrbach & Sons, in the wholesale ice business. In 1902 he became secre- tary of the Sunbury Water Company and in 1909 assumed the duties of treasurer and general inan- ager of that company, buying out his father's and brother's interest in both the water company and the firm of Lloyd T. Rohrbach & Sons. Since that time he has continued the business successfully, displaying ability and initiative in his enterprise.

Socially Mr. Rohrbach is a member of Maclay Lodge, No. 632, F. & A. M. ; of Williamsport Con- sistory, and of Irem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Wilkes Barre, Pa. He is also a member of the Alpha Tan Omega and T. & N. E. fraternities, at Gettysburg, Pa. : the I. O. O. F. and Encampment, the Temple Club -of Sunbury: the Sons of Veter- ans, and the Conclave. In politics he is a Republi- can.

On June 10, 1902. Mr. Rohrbach married Han- nah Derr, daughter of John F. and Susan (Knight) Derr, and they have two children. Lloyd Derr and Mary Elizabeth. In 1911 Mr. Rohrbach completed his handsome residence on Market street, Sunbury, a Colonial mansion, and one of the inost up-to-date homes in central Pennsylvania.

SAMUEL EGOLFF MAY, engineer of the borough of Shamokin, is a representative of a pro- fession indispensable to the opening and upbuild- ing of a town or country. He is a member of a family whose early home was in England, and he was born in Shamokin Oct. 8, 1876, son of Maj. James and Mary G. (Snyder) May.

Joseph May, his great-grandfather. came to America from England, accompanied by his wife. nections, being a member of Lodge No. 22, F. & whose maiden name was Anna George. They lo- A. M., of Sunbury ; Northumberland Chapter, No. cated in Schuylkill county, Pa., but later moved to 174, R. A. M. : the Temple Club: Lodge No. 267, Canada, where both died.

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Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, Part 34

Author: Floyd, J.L., & Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, J. L. Floyd & Co. Number of Pages: 1090

Author: Floyd, J.L., & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, J. L. Floyd & Co.
Number of Pages: 1090