Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, Part 86

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 86

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In 1874 Mr. Lahr married Mary Eyster, daugh- ter of David and Hannah (Geise) Erster, and to them have been born thirteen children : John mar- ried Katie Miller ; Jane married W. K. Bingaman ; George married Susan A. Riegel; Katie married Irwin Lesher ; Emma married Charles Riegel ; Henry married Bertha Hoffman; Louisa lives in Sunbury with the family of Hon. C. B. Witmer; Edward, Susan and Charles are unmarried ; three died young. Mr. Lahr and his family are members of the Lutheran congregation at Pillow, which he

has served seven years in the office of deacon. He his son John the name was continued. Elmer is a Democrat in political sentiment.

DONEY. There are living in Northumberland county many of the posterity of those Hessian sol- diers who, having been sold to England to assist in the suppression of the Revolution, had no desire to return to a country and a ruler which had sent them to fight the Colonists against their will, and

Johan Nickalas Doney, one of the Hessian sol- diers who refused to return to his native land after the Revolutionary war ended, was one of the large number captured by Washington at Trenton. Be- fore 1800 he had settled in Lower Mahanoy town- ship, Northumberland county, where he married and reared a creditable family. He was one of the inost respected citizens of his section. His chil- dren were : Abraham, John Adam and Anna Maria (Mrs. Peifer).

Abraham Doney, son of Johan Nickalas, came with his father from Berks or Lebanon county to Northumberland prior to 1800. He married Maria Zerbe, and they lived in Lower Mahanoy township. where they were farming people. They are buried at Zion's Stone Valley Church. They were the parents of a large family, namely: George, Adan :. Peter, John, Jacob, Benjamin, Abraham, Israel, Polly, Catharine. Rebecca, Elizabeth, Sallie and Rachel.

Israel Doney, son of Abraham, lived in Lower Mahanoy township, where he followed farming. He and his wife Sarah (Campbell) are buried at Zion's Church, in Stone Valley. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom died young, the sur- vivors being: John Adam, George E., Benjamin H. and Sarah C. (wife of Jacob Lahr, of Lower Mahanoy . township).

DOCKEY. Adam Dockey, one of the Hessian soldiers buried at Zion's Stone Valley Church, also founded a family represented to this day in Northumberland county. Ile was a pioneer resi- dent of Lower Mahanoy township, and through Docker, of Uniontown ( Pillow). Pa .. is a conspic- uons member of this family. Adam Dockey had one son and two daughters: John, Elizabeth (who died unmarried ) and Catharine (married Simon Lenker).

John Dockev, son of Adam, married Mary Schaffer, and they were farming people in Lower Mahanoy township. They were members of the

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Mahanoy church, and both are buried at that in 1767. He was a man of property, as an extract church. Their family consisted of thirteen chil- from his will shows: "As to what worldly goods the Lord has blessed me with I dispose of in the following manner: That all my just debts be truly and immediately paid. Next, I leave to Margaret, my beloved wife, and to her four young- est children, the use of my whole estate, real and personal, till said Benjamin is at the age of 21 years, at which time I will that my real estate be equally divided between my two sons exclusive of the place my son James lives on. which I leave to him free of any incumbrance, that to John and Benjamin. they giving to my beloved wife a neat, comfortable house, separate to herself if dren, all of whom reached maturity: (1) Michael, born March 2, 1813, died Nov. 12, 1889. (Susanna, who died May 26, 1900, aged sixty years, ten months, three days, may have been his wife.) He had two sons and three daughters. (2) John, born March 24, 1815, died Sept. 24, 1887. His wife Elizabeth, born Nov. 27, 1815, died Feb. 2, 1891. They had one daughter. (3) Mary. (4) Jonas, born Dec. 31, 1819, died July 2, 1904. His wife Catharine ( Hepner), born June 15, 1819, died Oct. 27, 1891. They had one son and one daughter. (5) Elizabeth. (6) Joseph had two sons and four daughters. (7) Sarah. (8) Catha- manded." rine. (9) Magdalene married David Underkoffler John McMahan, being a strong Protestant, helped to lay the foundation of that faith in the and they had fifteen children. (10) Benjamin, born April 29, 1829, lives at Pillow. He had Cumberland valley. In 1769 his son James, in two sons and one daughter. (11) Annie never, company with James, William and John Murray, Thomas Hewitt, Johnson Chenney and William Fisher, traveled over from Sherman's Valley to

married. (12) Elias, born June 21, 1833, died Dec. 7, 1888. His wife Eliza, born in 1834, died in 1893. They had two sons and five daughters. the Chillisquaque Valley, where they took up land, (13) Nathan, born Dec. 11, 1830, died Oct. ? , 1833.

CHARLES H. McMAHAN, of Milton. North- umberland Co., Pa., is a descendant of one of the oldest families in the upper part of the county, which has been located in the Chillisquaque Val- ley since about 17:1.

about three hundred acres on the south side of the Chillisquaque creek, later owned by the Voris family. Hewitt settled on a tract on the north side of the creek, west of the Red Bridge, and Mur- ray on the north side, east of Hewitt's place and north of McMahan's. A little later the latter's younger brothers, John and Benjamin, came hither with their venerable inother and settled to the east of James McMahan's place, on the same side of the creek, on land where Centre church now stands. Here the two bibthers and their mother lived to- gether. William Fisher settled near the mouth of the creek, and built a mill, Wilson's mill. Mrs. Mc- Mahan was accidentally drowned in the Chillis- quaque creek, while accompanying young James,

The family originated in Scotland, where the name was MacMahan. In 1650, because of clan disturbances on account of religion. they left their native land and settled in the North of Ireland. There, between 1:30 and 1740, an outbreak oc- curred between the Presbyterians and the Catho- lies, and the MacMahans, who were stanch Pres- byterians, took part in the trouble. At a battle her 12-year-old grandson (who was driving) on the fought about. 1732 five brothers were serving, and way home from this mill, by the overturning of their wagon. When Benjamin McMahan became of age he removed to Huntingdon county, Pa., where he lived and died. they were ever after separated. One, in some manner, was carried to France, and he became the ancestor of the celebrated Marshal MacMahon, who served as president of the French Republic.

James McMahan, the eldest son in the family, was known as "Major," and performed service in the Revolutionary war, serving under Washington in the Battle of Fort Duquesne. He married Mary Marrav, and they were the parents of the following children : (1) John, the eldest son, mar-

In 1735 or 1736 John McMahan. another of the five brothers, and the ancestor of the family in this country, came to America with his wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Murray. the Murrays, Hewitts. Irwins, Chenneys and Shaws emigrating from the North of Ireland about the ried Miss Rebecca Reynolds, and built a house on same time. They all settled in Sherman's Valley, a part of his father's farm. This burned. and he moved to New York State, settling near Lake Eric. His son Thomas married Rebecca Logan and settled in Point township, Northumberland in Juniata county. Pa .. in the section then known as Leek township. Cumberland county. John and Margaret McMahan brought with them their eldest son, James, then two years old, and the Co., Pa .. near Northumberland. (2) Jane mar- following children were born in the new home: ried Thomas Murray, eldest son of Col. James Murray, and they were the parents of James Fisher Murray, who married Amelia Honsel and moved to Mississippi. (3). James married Mary McCord, and they had one daughter. Sarah

Jolin (the next in the line of descent we are tracing ), Elizabeth. Sara, Margaret. Rachel, Ag- nes, Mary and Benjamin. The family remained at, the original settlement during the lifetime of the father, who passed away in Cumberland county Ann, who married Austin Smith, of May-

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ville, N. Y. (4) Thomas lived and died 20, 1863, who died July 12, 1889; Charles II .; at Albany, N. Y. (5) Samuel, born in Lizzie Simington, born May 3, 1870, who died 1779, married Jane Reed, daughter of Wil- June 7, 1890; Robert Mack; Lucy H., and John A., the three last named living in Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania.

liam and Mary Reed and granddaughter of William and Jane ( Mitchell) Reed; William Reed, the elder, great-grandfather of Mrs. Jane MeMa- han, married Dolly Letson, and died in Ireland, his widow and five children coming to America. Sam- uel and Jane ( Reed) McMahan were the parents of eleven children, Mary, Jennie (MIrs. James Blair), Rebecca ( Mrs. Samuel Blair), James (who inarried Mary Hawthorn), Margaret ( Mrs. John Giffen), William Reed (who married Sara Clark and moved to Bradford county), Sara ( who died young), Samuel (who married Margaret . Deif- fenbacher), Eliza Ann (deceased), John (who married Elizabeth Hendrickson and moved to Vineyard, N. J.), and Thomas (who died young) .

John McMahan, son of John the emigrant, was

He took up about four hundred acres of land in Montour county, part of which is still owned by Charles H. McMahan and his brothers and sisters. He served in the Revolutionary war and later mar- ried Jane Murray, daughter of John Murray and sister of Thomas Murray, Jr. Six sons and three daughters were born to them, as follows: James, who married Margaret Murray, daughter of "Meeting House" John Murray, as he was called; Peggy, Mrs. Van Zant ; John ; Hannah ; Benjamin, who married Hettie Brailey ; Thomas; Polly; Wil- liam, who married Sara Simington and (second) Effie Kerr; and Samuel. The father of this family was one of the founders of the Chillisquaque Chureh.

William McMahan, father of Charles H. Mc- Mahan, was born March 22, 1832, and died July 29, 1894. He was a prominent farmer of his na- tive township, Liberty, and held in high estcem there. Although the district was strongly Demo- eratic, and he was a Republican, he was long a member of the township school board, serving for over twenty years, and he was secretary and treasurer of that body for many years. He was

Robert Mack, father of Mrs. Selina McMahan, was born April 6, 1811, and died Sept. 28, 1884. ITis wife, Mary A. McFall, born April 16, 1801, died Jan. 10, 1887. Their children were born as follows: Alpheus, April 11. . 1832 (died May 31, 1834) ; Susan P., March 14, 1833 (mar- ried Levi Berger) ; Usiah, Jan. 9, 1835 (moved to Joliet, Ill., and married there) ; Mary, Nov. 1, 1837; Selina, Feb. 26, 1839 (married William McMahan) : William HI., March 15, 1841 (died March 15, 1907) ; Anna, July 24, 1843 ( married William Voris) ; Margaret, Feb. 27, 1848; Eliza- beth J., June 22, 1850.

Charles H. McMahan was born Aug. 16, 1865, the great-grandfather of Charles H. McMahan. on the old homestead in Liberty township, Mon- tour county, Pa., and there attended the public schools during his early boyhood. Later he was a pupil at the Pottsgrove Academy, and he took the dairy course at the State College, from which he was graduated. For some years after com- mencing life on his own account Mr. McMahan was a traveling salesman, during this time spend- ing several years on the Pacific coast, traveling from Southern California to British Columbia as agent and inanager for W. A. Charles & Co., ad- vertisers. While in California he wired the dining room of the Coronada Beach hotel, which contains over eighteen hundred incandescent lights and some seventy arc lights.

Mr. McMahan was called back East by the death John McMahan, grandfather of Charles H., of his father, and he has ever since made his home . was born on the old homestead in Liberty town- ship, Montour county. He married Mary ( Molly) Simington, and to them were born children as follows: Jane, who married Alexander Clark ; Robert S .; William : Elizabeth, Mrs. John Dur- ham; John, who moved to Sumner county, Kan. ; Sara, wife of Joseph K. Murray: and Thomas B., who moved to Sumner county, Kan., and married there.

in his native section. He spent some time on the farm, later traveling through the Southern States as representative of a pump company until 1902, when he opened a grain and feed store at Potts- grove, Pa. He immediately began the manufac- ture of special feeds, known as McMahan's Milk and Muscle Producer, McMahan's Concentrated Protein Feed, Mc Mahan's Special Pig Grower and Prepared Horse Fecd. In 190? he opened an es- tablishment in Milton, Northumberland county, which he equipped with machinery for the manu- facture of his special products. He designed and made the machinery himself. Since locating in Milton he has also dealt in coal, and he has built up an excellent business in both lines: there is a steady demand for his feed preparations.

Mr. McMahan married Anna Curry, daughter of William and Rebecca Helen ( Lowry) Curry, of a stanch member of the Chillisquaque church, and Montour county, and granddaughter of Judge Cur- ry, whose ancestors came to Montour county before the Revolution, taking up a vast tract in Valley

served as elder up to the time of his death. Mr. . McMahan married Selina Mack, daughter of Rob- ert Mack, and she survived him several years, dy- township. The farm which Mrs. McMahan's fa- ing March 19, 1901. They became the parents ther owns has been in the Curry name for over 125 of the following children : Anna Mary, born Jan. years.

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In polities Mr. McMahan is a Republican, and young business man, and has prospered deservedly. while in Pottsgrove he served as committeeman and As a eitizen he is held in favorable regard through- for five years as justice of the peace. He is a out the community, ever ready to assist any inove- member of the Presbyterian church, and while ment for the general welfare, for he considers it located at Pottsgrove served as one of the trustees no hardship to serve his fellowmen and is a dis- of the Chillisquaque church, founded so long be- fore by his great-grandfather.

MERRITT S. ADAMS. undertaker and furni- ture dealer at Watsontown, Northumberland county, has been a resident of that place sinee 1895 and engaged in business on his own aeeount the greater part of the time. He was born Feb. 20, 1874, at Milesburg, Center Co., Pa., son of William Adams and grandson of Matthew Adams.

Matthew Adams was for many years during his aetive life prominently associated with the iron industry, being long superintendent of the Curtin Iron Company and later superintendent

EDWIN L. KEISER, who has carried on' a drug business at Milton sinee 1900, was born Dee. of the Valentine Iron Company. Upon his retire- 20, 1872, in Union county, Pa., son of Jaeob and ment he removed to Howard, Pa., where he died. Susan ( Leinbach) Keiser.

He married Elizabeth Carpenter, who bore him the following children : Thomas died in Miles- burg, Pa .; Wesley died at Milesburg ; Mary mar- ried Abram Elder, a surveyor : Jane married Jolin Toner and, after his death, B. Liggett; Matthew died in Kansas City, Mo .; William is mentioned below ; Sarah married Benjamin Liggett.

William Adams was born Aug. 2, 1833, in Miles- burg, Center Co., Pa., and died Oct. 18. 1879. He was a contraetor, engaged in the sinking of oil wells, and many of the wells in Venango county, Pa., were drilled by him. He married Elizabeth Wright Forrester, daughter of James Forrester, and they had children as follows: Jennie T .: Mary, who died young: Merritt S .: Annie E .; of the Lutheran church. He died Feb. 12, 1867, Elizabeth W., .who married Marshall Cameron, aged fifty-nine years, and his wife survived him of Grand Rapids, Mich., where they reside.

Merritt S. Adams received his early education in the publie schools of Milesburg. He learned cabinetmaking with Alfred Green, and coming to Watsontown March 20, 1895, was for four years after his arrival, in the borough employed by the late Enos Everitt, in the furniture and undertak- ing business, at the end of that period eommenc- ing on his own account. In 1903 Mr. Adams erected the substantial building on Main street, in which his business has since been located, and which is one of the finest structures in the town. It is 50' by 70 feet in dimensions, three stories and basement, built of fine pressed brick and fil .- ished in modern style. steam-heated and equipped with electric lights. The third floor is rented to Watsontown Lodge, F. & A. M., which has fine quarters there. Mr. Adams carries a fine stock, ať furniture and house furnishings of all kinds, and he is well prepared to handle the undertaking branch of the business, having two hearses and. a number of earriages as well as all the modern ap- pliances for embalming, etc. He is an energetic Morris, Mary, Lester and Hattie. (2) Jacob is men-

interested worker in all lines which promise to promote the public good.

On Oct. 20, 1903, Mr. Adams married Ella G. Hech, daughter of Rev. Levi Heeh, a Methodist minister, of Loek Haven, Pa. Their union has been blessed with one son. William Hech. Mr. and Mrs. Adams are members of the Methodist church, and he has for four years been superintendent of the Sunday school. Socially he belongs to the 1. O. O. F., the Jr. O. U. A. M., the K. G. E. and the Modern Woodmen of America.

The Keiser family has been established in North- ampton county, Pa .. since before the Revolution- ary war. Michael Keiser, the first known ances- tor of this line, lived in that county before the war, in which he was a soldier. One of his sons. Jacob, who was born in Northampton county Feb. 26, 1807, came to Union eounty with his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Elick, and pur- ehased a large tract of land. He was a man of considerable force of character and became a lead- er in the community, where he filled nearly all the local offices of trust. He was a Republican in poli- tics from the formation of the new party, and in religion he and his wife were consistent members

many years, dying Oct. 8, 1892. She was born Sept. 11, 1805, in Northampton county, daughter of Christopher Elick. They are buried in Church Hill cemetery, in Kelly township, Union county. They had a family of eleven children: (1) Susan married Solomon Rauch and they have one son, Harrison. (2) John A. married (first) Sarah Heilman, daughter of John Heihinan, of Lyeon- ing eounty, and she died in November, 1860; she is buried in Lycoming county. By his second mar- riage, to Sarah J. Dietrich, he has had two chil- dren : Jane Estella, born Feb. 8, 1863, who died Feb. 18, 1869; and Elmer Edgar, born Feb. 7, 1863, now a physician in Tacony, Pa. (3) Caro- line died at the age of nineteen years. (4) Har- rison married Elizabeth Wise, daughter. of John Wise, and they have six children, Laura, Margaret. Ambrose, Annie R., Sarah and Harry. (5) Reu- ben, twin of Harrison, married Elizabeth Fores- man and has four children,, Brison, Frederick. Grace and Estella. (6) William married E. Alice Yarger and has had six children, Lewis J., Annie,

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tioned below. (8) Aaron M. died young. (9) of Pittsburg; May, who married William Cailey, Sammel married Carrie Ruhl and they have had a contractor, of Brooklyn, N. Y .; Hettie, unmar- children. Jennie, Mabel, Elizabeth J., Clara, Clem- ried; Margaret, who married Charles Mason, of ent C. and Grace C. Reese. (10) Benjamin F. Steubenville, Ohio; Andrew, deceased; Lawrence L .; and several who died young. married Mary L. Pawling, daughter of John, and they are the parents of James L., George O., John R. and Bertha A. (11) Melancthon married Em- ma Rothermel.

Jacob Keiser, father of Edwin L., was born in 1840, and died May 28, 1904. He married ( first) Rebecca Dietrich, who died leaving one daughter, Rebecca, now the wife of William G. Kline. His second marriage was to Susan Leinbach, of North- umberland county, and they are the parents of five children : Edwin L., John W., Ammon H. and Katherine M., all of whom are married ; and Earl J., who died in young manhood.

Edwin L. Keiser received his education in the schools of his home place and attended high school at Milton. He then took a course in the National Institute of Pharmacy at Chicago, Ill., and in 1900 began business at the location on the corner of Front and Mahoning streets, Milton, where he has since been established. He has proved him- self well adapted to his eliosen line of work, and is doing well in a business way, being an intelligent manager as well as a careful druggist. He stands well with the substantial citizens of the borough.

Lawrence L. Lewis began to learn the business of shoe manufacturing at an early age in his native city, in the employ of the firm of J. D. Chantler & Co., with whom he remained six years. In 1892 he came to Watsontown, Northumberland Co., Pa., and took a position with the Watsontown Boot & Shoe Company, becoming general superintend- ent of the plant in 1902. He has since filled that responsible position, and much of the prosperity of the concern during the intervening years is due to his enterprise and excellent management. The busi- ness is established on the main street of Watson- town, in a three-story brick building 50 feet wide and 165 feet long, and is one of the principal in- dustries in the borough, giving regular employ- ment to eighty people. The company was estab- lished in 1870 and the business has been conducted without interruption since, and a general line of men's, boys' and youths' shoes is turned out, the specialty being a line of heavy shoes in demand among lumbermen and prospectors, sold largely in the south and on the Pacific coast. The con- cern was incorporated in 1909 with Penn G. Hast- ings as president, Estella Westley as secretary and treasurer, and L. L. Lewis as general manager. Mr. Lewis has established his reputation as a business man of worth. and he is regarded as a reliable citizen in Watsontown, where he has served the community as a member of the board of edu- cation.

On Oet. 24, 1898, Mr. Keiser married Anna, daughter of Elam D. and Mary (Goodman) Deif- fenderfer, of West Milton, the former of whom is postmaster at that place. Two children have been born to this union, Harold D. and Edwin Lee. Mr. and Mrs. Keiser are members of Trinity Lutheran church at Milton. They occupy the old Dougal home in Milton, which was built more Mr. Lewis married Mabel Derr, daughter of than a century ago. Socially he is a member of Christopher Derr. of Montgomery, Pa., and they Milton Chapter, Royal Arcanum, and of the have four children : Helen, Delroy, Margerie and Knights of the Golden Eagle. Catharine.

LAWRENCE L. LEWIS, general manager of the Watsontown Boot & Shoe Company, has been a resident of the borough since 1892 and through- out his residence there associated with the same concern. He has been superintendent since 1902. Mr. Lewis was born in 1866 in Pittsburg, Pa., where his father, Lawrence L. Lewis, settled upon coming to America. The father was a native of Scotland and of Scotch-Irish extraction. He was quite young when he came to this country, and in his earlier manhood was connected with the oil business, but before his death was interested in towboats going down the Ohio river. He had poor health for several years before he died, his death occurring when his son Lawrence was still young. He is buried at Pittsburg. Mr. Lewis was a Pres- byterian in religious matters. His wife. Hettie, was born in America, and long survived him. They had quite a large family, namely: William 25

EDGAR BLUE, a young business man of Potts- grove, who is taking his place among the enter- prising citizens of that community, was born Dec. 24, 1874, in Liberty township, Montour Co., Pa., son of Samuel and Clarinda ( Murray) Biue.

The earliest record we have of the Blue family in this section goes back to 1775, when Frederick, William and Samnel Blue were taxables in Turbut township. Northumberland county. In 1784 we find Peter Blue had removed to Montour county, where he paid seven shillings, sixpence tax. Later we find his son Samuel lived in the same township, and the latter's son Frederick purchased a farm in Liberty township, that county. For some time he served as sheriff, when Montour and Columbia were one county, and he was also county treasurer during that period, when the two counties were known as Columbia county. He and his wife. whose maiden name was Himmelreich, are buried

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in the old Billmeyer cemetery. They were the lar citizen of the town of Milton, is a native of parents of the following named children : Samuel, Center county, Pa., born there Jan. 16, 1871, son Martin and George. of John G. and Nannie ( McWilliams) Bailey. He -

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Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, Part 86

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