Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, Part 6

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 6

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In 1867, soon after the close of his army service, Colonel Cadwallader came to Sunbury, where he Colonel Cadwallader is a native of Bucks county, Pa., born Oct. 20, 1830, near Doylestown. Dr. Peter Cadwallader, his father, was also born there, died in 1832 at Doylestown, where he was engaged in the practice of the niedical profession, and is buried there, in Buckingham township. He married Hannah M. Magill, like himself a native of Bucks county, and like him, also, of Scottish ancestry. She lived to the age of eighty. Dr. Peter Cadwallader and his wife had the fol- lowing children : Peter died in infancy: John, who was a miller and a well known man in this section, lived in Montour county, but died in Sunbury and is buried in the old cemetery (he never married ; he was a well known member of the Masonic fraternity here, belonging to Maclay Lodge and to the Knights Templars) : George B. is mentioned below : Mary died young. has since made his home. He and his brother John embarked in the flour and feed business His grandfather lived and died in that county. under the firm name of John Cadwallader & Co., and prospered from the start, operating three mills at different points in Northumberland county. The business developed to large and profitable proportions. In 1869 Colonel Cadwal- lader purchased a drug store in Sunbury from Dr: John G. Markle & Co., and continued to carry it on nntil 1884, at which time he became general superintendent of the Sunbury Nail, Bar and Guide Iron Company, manufacturers of consid- erable importance to this region. He retained that position until 1891, resigning to take the position of superintendent with the Sunbury Water Company, with which he was connected in such capacity until his resignation, over ten years ago. Though he has relinquished his more active responsibilities he is still associated with local George B. Cadwallader spent his boyhood at his native place and there received his early educa- tion. He subsequently attended the academy at Danville, Pa., and having decided to become a druggist went to Philadelphia to take the course interests as member of the official board of the Sunbury Safe Deposit & Trust Company, of which he was one of the original directors, having been a leading spirit in its organization. He is also president of the Sunbury Mutual Fire In- at the College of Pharmacy there. Having com- surance Company, of which he was a founder and the first vice president.

pleted his preparation he established himself in the drug business at Danville, thence in 1857 re- moving to Shamokin, Northumberland county. where he carried on business as a druggist until the outbreak of the Civil war. In April, 1861, he entered the Union army, and for over five years was engaged in the service of his conntry, his army record being a notable one. Becoming first lieutenant of Company A, 8th Regiment, Penn- sylvania Volunteer Infantry, he served three months, in August, 1861, re-entering the service with the same rank in Company K, 46th Regi- nient, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Promo- tions came rapidly. On Sept. 17, 1861, he became

The Colonel has always held public-spirited ideas regarding the duties of citizens to protect the interests of the community, and in his posi- tion as an influential business man has been able to accomplish much of benefit to his fellow citi- zens. They have recognized his efforts by clect- ing him to responsible public office, and his popu- larity has won him the support of the best class of citizens. In 1887 he was elected chief burgess. in which office he served two terms, having been re-elected in 1889. In other respects he has also been a. leader. For several years he was foreman of No. 1 Fire Company. He was first commander first lieutenant and quartermaster of his regiment, of the G. A. R. post at Sunbury. is a prominent serving thns until July, 1863, when he was ad- member of the Loval Legion, and also holds mem- vanced to captain and assistant quartermaster, U. bership in the Masonic fraternity, belonging to S. A. In March, 1865, he was brevetted major Lodge No. 22. F. & A. M .. and Northumberland Chapter, No. 124, R. A. M. He is a Republican in political sentiment. and lieutenant colonel, and subsequently, for meri- torious service throughout the war, was brevetted colonel, with which rank he was mustered out In 1820 Colonel Cadwallader married Mrs. Georgiana ( Markle) Wolverton, who died May 9. 1885. Two daughters were born to this union : Mary C., who is unmarried and at home with her father : and Anna, who married Simon P. Wolver- of the service, at Richmond, Va .. Sept. 10, 1866. He served as quartermaster of Williams's Brigade, . Army of Virginia, of the 1st Brigade, Ist Division, 2d Corps, Army of Virginia, and of the 1st Bri-

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

ton, Jr., son of S. P. Wolverton, and resides at and small planing mill at . Milton, at the Sunbury. Mrs. Cadwallader's mother was present location, in the Third ward, and the neces- Robins, a member of the first family to settle at sities of the work there prompted the invention. Sunbury. The site of the Colonel's beautiful The plant had been intended originally for the home, which he erected in 1883 at the corner of Fifth and Market streets, was taken up by the run in Robinses, and the property is one of the most at- tractive residences in Sunbury: The General has been active in building .up the borough, having erected several residences.

manufacture of lumber exclusively, but in time a small machine shop came be eonneetion, and after the destruction of the establishment in the great fire of 1880 it was rebuilt as a machine sliop for the manufacture of cutter heads of their own inven- tion, and other specialties. The establishment was a small one at the beginning, but energy and vigor were back of it, and the owners devoted their time and attention to pushing the business with sneh success that it soon needed to be enlarged and be- came one of the most completely equipped plants in this section. The main building, a two-story concrete structure, 72 x 140 feet in dimen- sions, is thoroughly prepared for all kinds of work in this special line, with engine lathes, planers, shapers, millers, drills, et cetera, and in another building, 36 by 315, two-story brick, are the lathes and planers upon which the heavier product is manufactured. The plant is equipped throughout for electrical transmission of power. The matcher leads made here are used in all parts of this coun- try, as well as in Australia, England, Canada and of Milton for thirty years, during which time he elsewhere, having probably become more widely

SAMUEL JOHNSTON SHIMER, late of Milton, Northumberland county, was a name that stood for leadership in the manufacturing activi- ties of that horough for many years. For almost forty ycars the name has been identified with the most important interests of the place and its rep- resentatives have shown themselves capable not only in the executive work of the enterprises but in- genious in the technical requirements, for their . most valuable products are deviees of their own in- vention and some of their output has probably attained a wider circulation than any other indus- trial products of Milton, certain of their special- ties being used in practically every country of the globe. Samuel J. Shimer, long senior member of the firm which still bears his name, was a eitizen did as much as any one citizen of the borough has ever done for its business advancement, especially of Milton.

along modern industrial lines. The Milton Manu- facturing Company has also been owned by the Shimers for over twenty years.

known than any other single manufactured product

In 1884 a new plant was erected, in Northamp- ton county, Pa., and that vear George J. Shimer retired from the Milton business to assume control

Samuel Jolinston Shiner was born Dec. 3, 1837, of the new establishment, S. J. Shimer becoming in Bethlehem township, Northampton Co., Pa. sole proprietor of the original plant, which he con- tinued under his own nainc. Later he took his two sons, Ehner S. and George S., into partner- ship, the name then taking its present form, S. J. Shiner & Sons. In the fall of 1886 there was established the Milton Manufacturing Company for the purpose of manufacturing eertain iron and steel specialties, but the business was unsuccessful and in the fall of 1888 the plant was purchased under lease by Samuel J. Shimer and his sons, who reorganized and continued under the same title, there being then employed about fifty men. This company has since developed until at present their employees number about eight hundred and their manufactured products are distributed through- out the world. His parents, Abram B. and Margaretta (John- ston) Shimer, were natives of the same county, Mr. Shiner of German descent, Mrs. Shimmer of Scottish extraction. He was reared on the old farm in his native township, where he began his education in the public schools, later attending an academy at Bethlehem. Upon leaving school he engaged in farming. In October, 1871, Mr. Shim- er came to Milton, whither his brother George had preceded him in 1869, and with George Apple- gate and C. L. Johnston they formed the firm of Applegate, Shimer & Co., which purchased a tract of eighteen hundred acres of heavily timbered land in Union county, Pa., for lumber operations. They cut the timber and manufactured it into lumber, which was hauled to Milton, the nearest shipping point. Their operations were continued until over three thousand acres of timber had been eut and marketed, when in 1880, after the Milton fire, the firm continued under the name of Shimer .& Co., Messrs. Johnston and Applegate retiring.

In 1889 Mr. Samuel J. Shimer originated and patented a device for cutting nuits and washers, and its production became the chief work of the Milton Manufacturing Company. After some years the manufacture of hot pressed and eold punched nuts was commenced. S. J. Shimer & Sons still con- Meantime, in 1873, the Shimer brothers had in- tinne the manufacture of entter heads. entter vented and patented a matcher head which proved knivesand bits, which are favorably known and used to be one of the most valuable devices of the cen- tury. In 1872 the firm had established a sawmill

throughout the United States and Canada. It has always been the policy of this concern to de-

Samuel y. Phimer

The Lawn Publishing

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

sign and perfect machinery especially adapted to the prosperity of the community are thoroughly the manufacture of its products, and to maintain appreciated. He is a director of the Milton Na- tional Bank, and is at present serving as a member of the school board. In politics he is a Republican, in religious connection a Presbyterian. the highest possible standards in quality -- a policy made possible by the inventive genius possessed by the members of the Shimer family, and by the in- terest they have always kept up in the perfection Mr. Shimer married Margaret S. Lawson, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Finney) Law- son, and they have had three children : Elizabeth, Samuel J. and Harold. of mechanical devices generally. They are noted for high-grade products and for irreproachable business standards, a combination which has proved effective in winning success of the per- manent kind. In the death of Mr. Samuel J. Shimer, which occurred June 18, 1901, Milton lost one of her foremost citizens.

Mr. Shimer was one of the incorporators of the Milton Trust & Safe Deposit Company, of which he served as vice-president many years. A gentleman of enterprise, public spirit and the high- est integrity, he was widely known and universally respected.

On Sept. 27, 1860. Mr. Shimer married Cath- arine A. Stout, a native of Northampton county, Pa., and three children were born to this union : Elmer S .; Mary C., wife of William A. Heinen ; and George S. Mr. Shimer and all his family united with the Presbyterian Church. He was a Republican in political matters.

Isaac Stout, Mrs. Shimer's father, was born in Northampton county, followed farming there, and died Jan. 5, 1857. He married Catharine Clemens, a native of Bucks county, but like himself a mem- ber of a. Northampton county family and of Ger- man origin. They are buried at Bethlehem, Northampton county. To them were born the fol- lowing children: Fredericka Amelia, widow of Charles Christian, is now (1911) in her ninety- sixth year ; Mary married Sammel Reigel ; Bar- bara died in infancy; Elizabeth married William Steckler: Anna M. married Jacob Lillie; Louisa E. died at the age of twenty-six years, unmarried ; Dr. Abraham served as a surgeon during the Civil war; Lewis H. was also in the Civil war, in the commissary department : Catharine A. is the wid- ow of Samuel J. Shimer, and continues to make her home at Milton.

ELMER S. SHIMER, eldest son of Samuel J. Shimer, was born Sept. 19, 1862. He received the greater part of his education in the public schools of Milton, and at the Milton Academy under Pro- fessor Schneider, and later attended the Eastman After graduating from the Shamokin high school in 1872 John P. Helfenstein attended a pri- vate school in Shamokin, for three years, his teach- er the first year being Herbert Lathe (graduate of Yale, 1873), and the second year Charles F. Joy ( Yale, 1874). In 1876 he entered Vale College, from which he was graduated with the degree of B. A. in 1880, with honors, immediately there- after matriculating at the law school of that uni- versity, from which he was graduated in 1883. He was entitled to practice law in the Superior courts Business College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He began work in his father's employ, and remained with him continuously, in time becoming a mem- ber of the firm. When the Milton Manufacturing Company was established by his father, in 1886, he became treasurer of the new concern, and upon the incorporation of Samuel J. Shiner & Sons, in 1903, he was made president. As the executive officer of this company he holds an important place in the industrial life of the borough, where the value of his establishment and its influence on of Connecticut. and returning to his home in 2

GEORGE S. SHIMER, younger son of Samuel J. Shimer, was born March 26, 1866, and received his education in Milton, graduating from the high school. Like his brother, he has always been as- sociated with the Shimer interests at Milton, and upon the incorporation of Samuel J. Shimer & Sons, in 1903, he became vice president and treas- urer. When the Milton Manufacturing Company was established, in 1886, he was made manager, and in 1901 became president, and he is also a director of the Milton National Bank. Though a man of large business interests, he has always maintained a strong interest in the general wel- fare of the borough, and he is at present serving as councilman. In politics he is a Republican, and like the rest of the family, a Presbyterian in religious connection.

Mr. Shimer was married to Libba S. Moore, daughter of John Moore, of Milton, and their fam- ily consists of three children : Miriam C .. Flor- ence E. and George S.

JOHN P. HELFENSTEIN, of Shamokin, who is engaged in the practice of law and the inan- agement of various important business interests. is a native of that borough, born Nov. 26, 1856, son of Charles P. and Caroline H. ( Perkins) Helf- enstein. In pursuing the legal profession and in the prosecution of business he is following in the footsteps of his immediate ancestors, the Helfen- steins having been identified with both. His father and uncle were not only eminent lawyers but among the most enterprising leaders in the development of the Shamokin and Trevorton coal fields, the introduction of railroads, and the pro- motion of many undertakings which marked the beginning of modern industrial conditions not only in Shamokin and vicinity but also through- out this section of Pennsylvania.

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania was admitted to the bar of North- dustrial prosperity and fame of the Common- umberland county the following year, 1884. Meantime he had settled down to business at Shamokin, becoming superintendent of the Gas Company, which position he held until 1886, when he resigned it in order to give more time to liis professional interests, which were growing to such an extent as to demand the greater part of his at- tention. However, his time at present is princi- pally occupied with the management of his own real estate and that of his father's estate, though he retains interests in different concerns includ- ed in the field of public utilities, including the Gas Company, the Electric Light Company, the Mount Carmel Gas Company (of which he is treasurer), the Telephone Company and various banks.

Mr. Helfenstein maintains numerous social re- lations, being a member of Shamokin Lodge, No. 255, F. & A. M .; Shamokin Chapter, No. 264, R. A. M .; Shamokin Commandery, No. 77, K. T .; Bloomsburg Consistory (thirty-second degree) ; LuLu Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Philadelphia : the Craftsmen's Club of Bloomsburg; the Cresco and Temple Clubs of Shamokin; the Livingston Club of Allentown : and Shamokin Lodge of Elks, No. 355. He holds membership in the Episcopal Church and has served in a number of the church offices. Politically he has been active in the Dem- ocratic party, having served sixteen years as com- mitteeman of his ward. He has availed himself of many opportunities to show his broad public spirit on questions of general interest and projects affecting the welfare of the community.

In 1883 Mr. Helfenstein married Carrie At- wood Northall, daughter of John Northall, of Pottsville, Pa .. and they had two children : Esther C., now the wife of Roger K. Williams, of Cynwyd, near Philadelphia, and the mother of one son, Roger : and Gretchen E., who died at the age of six years. Mrs. Carrie Atwood (Northall) Helf- enstein died in 1902. On Aug. 12, 1908, Mr. Helfenstein married (second) Helen C. Holl. daughter of Thomas Holl, late of Shamokin, and to this union have been born two children : Helen Leonard, on July 28, 1909, and John Philip, on Aug. 4, 1910.

wealth of Pennsylvania have long rested. Her coal fields have constituted one of the most. val- uable sources of her wealth; and their operation is so closely associated with the expansion of and progress of railroads that the two can scarcely be separated. From 1849 on through the most try- ing period of their evolution Judge Helfenstein was at the head of many of the most ambitious en- terprises of the kind set on foot. As time has proved, he was ahead of his generation in his ideas and in the possibilities he foresaw. All his hopes were not realized in his own active career in this region. But he paved the way for those who took up his work after him, and he deserves the praise of the pioneer in any field, the man who has the courage to act upon his convictions. He and his brother withdrew from active connection with the coal interests of this section about 1872.

WILLIAM LEONARD HELFENSTEIN was born in 1801 in Lancaster, Lancaster Co., Pa., son of John P. and Elizabeth Helfensteiu, and grand- son of Rev. Conrad Helfenstein, who came to this country from Germany as a missionary of the German Reformed Church. William L. Helfen- stein was a small boy when he removed with his parents to Carlisle, Pa., and there he grew to man- hood and received his education, graduating from Dickinson College in 1823. Subsequently he studied theology at Princeton, with the intention of entering the ministry, but his health failing he was obliged to abandon his studies, and thus the whole after current of his life was changed. Shortly afterward his parents moved to Dayton, Ohio, to which place he accompanied them. He there entered the law office of Judge Crane, one of the eminent jurists of the Miami Valley, was admitted to the bar and practiced his pro- fession in Dayton for several years quite success- fully. Meantime he became prominent in the local councils of the Democratic party. which nominated him for Congress against his old preceptor, Judge Crane, and, though the district liad a Whig ma- jority of over two thousand, his great persona! popularity cut down the majority to within thirty votes of election. After this favorable expression of public opinion he was, in 1835, elected by the Legislature judge of the court of Comnion Pleas of the Dayton district, which position he filled in a satisfactory manner for the full constitutional term of seven years, until 1842. He then removed with his parents to Milwaukee, Wis., but finally settled in Chicago, Ill., where he opened a law office and continued the practice of his profession for a few years. About this time his attention was directed to the undeveloped anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania. and. urged by some of his friends to undertake their development, he came East in 1849 and commenced the great work with

HELFENSTEIN. There are few names which have more significance in the history of the de- velopment and opening of this region than that of Helfenstein. The achievements of Judge Wil- liam Leonard Helfenstein and Charles P. Helf- enstein, brothers, in the promotion of the early coal and railroad companies, the forerunners of organizations and systems of such strength and importance that the history of the State and even the nation is bound up in their successful and proper administration, mnay rightly be classed as a solid part of the foundation upon which the in- which his name is intimately connected. There

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

is hardly any other one man who did so much kill county, during his residence in Pottsville. in this special field. He was the principal pro- Judge Helfenstein never married. Wherever he made his home lie left a wide circle of the warm- est admirers and friends, and his death was deeply mourned by all who knew him. The early impres- sions made upon his mind while studying for the ministry at Princeton influenced his whole after life, and his character was deeply imbued with the most sincere religious sentiments. He was a truly charitable man, and was a spontaneous and frequent contributor toward the support of reli- gious and charitable objects. He was a fluent and logical speaker, and was well versed in the current literature of his day. His lecture on Mexico, its mineral resources, and its people and their habits and customs, delivered in Shamokin, Pottsville and other places, was an able historical address, highly spoken of by the local press, and still favor- ably remembered by his many friends throughout the coal region. moter of the company that founded Trevorton the following year. He organized from time to time a number of coal companies, aniong them the Zerbe Run, Mahanoy Improvement, Carbon Run, Big Mountain, Green Ridge, Locust Gap, Locust Sun- mit, and others, and displayed wonderful energy and enterprise in the development of the coal fields between Trevorton and Mount Carmel. As one of the first to appreciate their immense value he became largely interested in nearly all the best coal lands from Mount Carmel to Trevorton, and these were the basis of the several coal companies organized by him. He organized and partly built the railroad from Trevorton to the Susquehanna river, being the leading spirit in this undertak- ing, and laid out the town of Trevorton; he was a leading member of the company that purchased the Danville & Pottsville railroad at sheriff's sale, changed the name to the Philadelphia & Sunbury railroad, and organized the company that rebuilt the road and laid it with T rails ; he was the lead- ing spirit and president of the company that re- habilitated the line from Sunbury to Shamokin, built the extension from Shamokin to Mount Car- mel and the branch to Locust Gap : he was a mem- ber of the company that laid out Mount Carmel, and was proprietor of the towns of West Shamokin. Helfenstein and Gowen City. While president of the Philadelphia & Sunbury road. and eager to carry the road through successfully, he risked a large part of his personal estate in the enterprise. Being far ahead of the times in which he lived, his hopes were not realized, and his coal estate and railroad interests were consequently sacrificed. He then united with his brother, Charles P., in the Helfenstein coal lands, and during their develop- ment laid out the towns of Helfenstein. 1868, opening a colliery there. Gowen City, and West Shamokin, from which enterprises he realized a handsome fortune.

Judge Helfenstein resided in Shamokin and Trevorton up to 1860 and then removed to Potts- ville. In 1872 he removed from Pottsville to New York City and purchased a residence at Mott Haven, in the neighborhood of the metropolis. He of the village, as it then was. Having in the mean- subsequently became interested in silver and iron ore mines in the republic of Mexico, and spent the remaining years of his life between New York and Mexico. He died of Mexican fever at Du- rango, Mexico, in March, 1884, in the eighty-third year of lis age, and his remains were interred in that distant land.

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Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, Part 6

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