Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 2, Part 20

Author: Floyd, J.L., & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, J. L. Floyd & Co.
Number of Pages: 1024

USA > Pennsylvania > Northumberland County > Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 2 > Part 20

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

member. For ten years he held the office of justice of the peace, and he was one of the first board of school directors of Washington township, entering upon the duties of that position when the public school systemn of the township was established, in 1870. Politically he was a Democrat. His wife, Susanna (Kramer), died about two years before and florist, is a prosperous business man who has him. They were the parents of eleven children :

HIRAM M. HAAS, of Sunbury, farmer, trucker been active in various lines during his busy life James was an invalid and lived at home until his and has made a substantial success. He has serv- death; John K. is mentioned below : Clara M. ed in various public offices and has proved a good married Wilson Rebuck; Charles died in Wash- citizen in every capacity in which his ability and ington township; Frank met his death in the integrity have been tested. Klondyke, where he was frozen to death with nine Mr. Haas is a grandson of Lawrence Haas, who other men; Elizabeth (deceased) married F. L. lived in Jackson township, Northumberland coun- Kehres : Catharine is the widow of Robert Gar- ty. He was possessed at one time of considerable man : Ellen married Martin Kehres; Lewis is a

means, nearly all of which he lost going security

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NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

for supposed friends. He died carly in August, high-grade flour by steam, water and roller pro- 1803, and his administrator was one Daniel Haas, probably a son. Among his children were: John S .; Isaac, who lived and died in Jackson town- ship; Daniel, who was a miller and fariner in New York State; Mrs. Smith ; and Harriet, who married Jacob Bower.

cesses. He found the mill very profitable, there being a ready market for the products, which had an excellent reputation. Mr. Haas lives in East Sunbury, on Haas avenue (named in his honor ), where he built the "Haas mansion" in 1890, and he has large interests in and out of the borough. John S. Haas, son of Lawrence, was born May He has seventy-five acres of land to the east of 6, 1810, in Northumberland county and received Sunbury, most of it now included in the borough, and is engaged in the cultivation of same as a general farmer, truck gardener and florist. The Susquehanna Silk Mills are located on this proper- ty. He also has a farm of 165 acres in Upper Augusta township, which he rents. His interests are extensive and lie devotes the greater part of the time to their management, being one of the prominent business men of his section of Sunbury, which was formerly known as Purdytown and formed an independent borough before its annex- ation. His home is included in what is now the Ninth ward. However, with all his numerous pri- vate interests, lie has found time for valuable public service, having served three terms as school director of what was then Purdytown, a member for two terms of the East Sunbury council, town- ship auditor three successive terms, and recorder. In political sentiment he is a Democrat, with in- dependent inclinations. Mr. Haas was for some years affiliated with the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Royal Arcanum at Sunbury.

a common school education. Hc resided in Ma- . hanoy and Jackson townships until 1850, when he moved to Upper Augusta township and there in 1856 purchased the McCarthy & Davis mill, then .known as the Sunbury mill property, but since known as Haas's mill. There he lived the re- mainder of his days, following milling and also farming, to which he had been reared, until his retirement, and accumulating a comfortable property by industry, good management and hon- orable dealing. He was unassuming and mingled little with his fellowmen, but he was universally respected, and he held several local offices, serving as school director and for many years as overseer of the poor. When a young man he joined a militia company and became quite prominent in that con- nection, rising to the rank of major and later to that of colonel ; he made a commanding appear- ance, especially upon horseback, and attracted much attention upon public occasions. His death, which was caused by paralysis, occurred Nov. 30, 1885, at the age of seventy-five.

On Dec. 6, 1835, Mr. Haas married Margaret Deppen, who was born March 4, 1812, near Wom- elsdorf, Berks Co., Pa., and died Dec. 13, 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Haas were members of the German Reformed Church, and in politics he was a Demo- crat. Socially he belonged to the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows. He and his wife are buried in Pomfret Manor cemetery. They were the par- ents of four children, all of whom died in infancy except Hiram M.

In 1870 Mr. Haas married Luzetta, daughter of John Hull, a merchant of Snydertown, this county, and to them have been born children as fol- lows: John F., of Sunbury, who married Harriet O. Detrich, of Sunbury; Edward L., of Sunbury, who died in August, 1910, at the age of thirty- seven years ; Isaac J., of Sunbury, married to Amy E. Fasold, of that borough; Bessie May; Hiram W., of Sunbury; Mary Margaret; Essie Mabel; Nellie Jane, and Marian Valeria.

Hiram M. Haas was born March 4, 1846, in DANIEL ST. CLAIR was a native of Scotland, and came to America when twelve years old. Hc was in the Revolutionary war, in which he was drum major, and the four fingers of liis left hand were shot off in the war. He was a scholar and a good penman and taught school. His wife had a property in Lower Augusta township which Jack Smith now owns, and William Wynn owns another part of the old St. Clair holdings. Mr. St. Clair married Isabella Auchmudy. a daugh- ter of Arthur and Sarah (Mills) Auchmudy, pio- neers of the county. Daniel and Isabella St. Clair arc buried at Fisher's Ferry. Their children were : Daniel, David, Casper, George, Abrahamn, Sarah, Anna, Lydia, and a son whose name is forgotten. Jackson township, and was in his fifth year when his parents settled at the Mill property in Upper Augusta township, in the neighborhood of Sun- bury. He received his education in the public schools of the borough and at the Missionary Insti- tute at Sclinsgrove, this county, which he left in 1867, later attending the Eastman Business Col- lege at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., for five months. From early life he assisted his father and was long as- sociated with him in the management of his affairs, also conducting the mill' for a time on his own account. It was equipped with a full roller system and known as the Sunbury Roller Mills. After his father's death he leased the mill and again took up farming, in which he had been previously in- Daniel St. Clair lived on rented land. He is terested, subsequently operating the mill again .in buried in upper Dauphin county. By his first connection with his agricultural operations, making wife, Katie Hubb, he had two children, Sarah

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and Walter. To his second union, with Betzy vania Railroad Company. He began as a repair- Dietrich, were born : Hiram, Washington, Isa- man, later became a fireman and in time an en- bella, and one that died in infaney.

gineer, being employed in the latter capacity until David St. Clair lived and died at the Cart he met his death, May 6, 1869, at Brady, this House. He was well-to-do. He married Amelia Reider, and they had a son George.

county. The boiler of his engine exploded, throw- ing him into the adjacent bushes, and life was ex- well liked man, and had proved a loyal citizen of his adopted country, serving in the Union army during the Civil war.

Casper St. Clair married Mary Clymer, from tinet when he was found. He was a popular and Berks county, Pa. For a time they rented, and later lived along the mountain in Lower Angusta township. They are buried at the Methodist Church. They had children as follows: Jeremiah died in Shamokin; Isabella, born Oct. 11, 1823, is . George St. Clair lived in Schuylkill County, Pa., and St. Clair, in that county, was named after him. He married Polly Dietrich, and among their children were Matilda and Mary.

Mr. Peifer married Anna Maria Bader, who was born Sept. 18, 1842, near the town of Dettin- still living, the widow of Robert Smith; Sarah gen, in Wurtemberg, Germany, daughter of John Jane married Charles Reader; Mary E. married Alvin Reader; Andrew J. died in Custer county, Pa., in October, 1900, aged seventy-two years. George and Christina (Bossart) Bader, and caine to America when nineteen years old. Three chil- dren were born to this union: John Jacob; Mary Christina, born Aug. 27, 1866, who married Peter Maus and has one child, Dr. John P .; and Anna Dorothy, born Nov. 21, 1868, who married Charles Martin. After Mr. Peifer's death his widow mar- Abrahamn St. Clair lived at Wilkes-Barre. He ried John Michael Sheese (Schiese), a native of Germany, who died at Shamokin Feb. 5, 1877. Mrs. Sheese still survives, making her home in Shaino- kin. By her second marriage she had children a; follows: Elizabeth C., who is the wife of Elmer Long; Rev. George F., a Presbyterian minister JOHN JACOB PEIFER, late of Shamokin, who was engaged in the leather and boot and shoe business at the corner of Arch and Market streets, printer, and Fredericka Matilda, married to John formerly located at Montgomery, Pa., who recently inoved to Oklahoma, where he is engaged as a Henry Weitenhafer.

entered the army and sold his property for $1,500, though it was worth much more, being rich coal land. His wife was Ellen Courtright, and their youngest child was Butler St. Clair.

had an extensive trade, supplying most of the shoe- makers in his section. He was a substantial busi- ness man and a respected citizen, one of the best known residents of the western section of the bor- ough.

John Jacob Peifer was born Oct. 27, 1864, at Mount Carmel, Northumberland county, and he began work as many boys in this region have done, picking slate at the mines. He was thus engaged during the summer season, in the winter months attending public school. When fifteen years old he went to learn shoemaking, which trade he fol-

shoemaking, in which he was ever after interested. In 1898 he engaged in business on his own account, as a boot and shoe dealer and manufacturer, and he established a large business, having all the most modern equipment and conveniences for faeilitat-> ing his work. He also dealt in leather and find- ings, supplying almost all the shoemakers in this

His profitable and constantly widening trade was the best comment upon his business methods. Mr. Peifer died April 23, 1911, and was buried

Mr. Peifer was a Republican in politics and ac- as couneilman, and as school director for some time, from the Third ward. Socially he belonged to the Knights of Malta, P. O. S. of A., Sons of Veterans, I. O. O. F. and Maceabees. He was a

John Jacob Peifer, son of John Jacob, was born tive in borough affairs, having served nine years Nov. 19, 1835, at the town of Beringer, in Wurtem- berg, Germany. He was in his seventeenth year when he came with his parents to America, and he was employed at Shamokin and at Allegheny City before settling at Weigh Scales, near Shamo- member of St. John's German Reformed Church, kin, where he entered the employ of the Pennsyl- and a member of the choir. A man of genial and

....

Mr. Peifer was the third of his name in direet line, being a son of John Jaeob Peifer and a grand- son of John Jacob Pfeifer (as the name was orig- inally spelled), who was born Feb. 28, 1809, in lowed from that time until 1884, in which year Wurtemberg, Germany, and came to America in he returned to the mines. But after a comparative- 1852, making the voyage in a sailing vessel. He ly brief experience in his former line he resumed was married in Germany to Barbara Ziegler, a native of that country, born Jan. 19, 1806, and his wife and family accompanied him to the United States. £ They landed at New York, later com- ing to Pennsylvania and locating in Shamokin, where Mr. Pfeifer found work at the mines. For some time before his death Mr. Pfeifer had his home at Weigl Scales, near Shamokin, where he section.

died June 20, 1863; his wife died Dec. 3, 1868, and both are buried at the Blue Church, of which they were members. Their children were John Peter, John Jacob, Barbara and Magdalena (mar- in Shamokin cemetery. ried Patrick Mackin).

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charitable disposition, he enjoyed the friendship cultivating land in Northumberland county ; mean- and good will of a wide circle.

Mr. Peifer married Isabella Otto, granddaughter of William Otto, a farmer of Schuylkill county, who died in 1830 ; his wife was Margaret Kessler. Henry Otto, son of William, was born in Schuyl- kill county June 21, 1825, and is now a resident of Shamokin. He married (first) Catharine Artz, by whom he had eight children, and by his second union, to Mary Fager, he had a family of eleven, . of whoni Mrs. Peifer was onc.

· JEREMIAH LOWER, a retired citizen of Sun- bury, has been a resident of that borough for the past twenty years, and until his retirement in 1906 was a successful business man. He is a native of Dauphin county, born near the Northumberland county line Oct. 2, 1845.

Michael Lower ( Laner), his grandfather, a na- tive of Schwartzwald, Germany, was one of four brothers, all then unmarried, who came to Ameri- ca, and he located in Dauphin county; another brother settled near Harrisburg, Pa., another in the vicinity of Philadelphia, while of the fourth · nothing was ever known after his arrival in this country. Michael Lower owned a large tract of land on the north side of Mahantango mountain, near Malta (Vera Cruz), and there he engaged in farm- ing until his death. He was a Lutheran in re- ligion, and is buried at Zion's (Stone Valley) Church. (One Michael Lauer, buried at that church, was born Feb. 1, 1781, and died July 13, 1834.) His wife survived him a number of years. They had children as follows : William was the father of Jeremialı Lower ; Jacob settled in Juniata county, Pa .; Michael died near Mahantango, Pa .; Daniel located at Brookville, Ogle Co., Ill., where he died; John died in the Lykens Valley March 6, 1904, aged ninety-two years, cight months, three . days (his wife, Elizabeth, died Sept. 28, 1894, aged seventy-four years, sixteen days) ; Eliza- beth married John A. Snyder; Rebecca married (first) Abrahanı Frymover and (second) Jolin A. Snyder, whose first wife was her older sister, Eliza- beth ; Polly married John Chroyer.

William Lower was born in 1815 and died in August, 1849, on the old homestead. He was a Lutheran in religious faith and is buried at the Stone Valley church. He learned the trade of blacksmith; which he followed, and also farmed on the old homestead. His wife, Julia Zerbe, daugh- ter of John Zerbe, of Lower Mahanoy township, died Feb. 28, 1904, aged seventy-nine years. They were the parents of two children, Jeremiah and Matilda, the latter dying in infancy.

Jeremiah Lower received his education in the public schools of the locality where he had his early home and at the Missionary Institute, Selins- grove. He was reared to farming, which he fol- lowed until he reached the age of forty-one years.

while he also conducted a butcher business for some time in the village of Vera Cruz, in Lower Ma- hanoy township. When he gave up farming he settled at Weigh Scales, this county, at which place he conducted the "State Road Hotel" (then known as "Hensyl's Hotel") for about two years, in 1889 moving to Ashland, Schuylkill county, where he was proprietor of the "Central Hotel" for a year. In March, 1890, he settled in Sunbury, where he has since made his home. For seven years he conducted the "Packer House" in this borough, in 1896 buying the saddlery and hard- ware business to which he subsequently gave his attention until his retirement, conducting same for a period of nine years. Mr. Lower manufac- tured and dealt in all kinds of custom and factory made harness, saddlery hardware and shoe find- ings, handling a superior line of goods. Those of his own manufacture were of the highest grade .. He made any kind of harness, doing the work in the most approved manner and the mounting as desired, and carried a most comprehensive stock- everything needed in the stable. He gave special attention to repair work, and enjoyed an excellent patronage. His store was at No. 506 Market street. Mr. Lower has taken a deep interest in the welfare of his adopted home, and has served two years in the boroughi council. He is a Republican in political opinion.

In 1886 Mr. Lower married Wilhelmina Witmer, daughter of Isaac Witmer, of Lower Mahanoy township, and six children have been born to them : William R. is a resident of Sunbury; Julia V. married James R. Brosius and after his death married (second) G. W. Floyd, who is in the Federal service, and they live at Capitol Heights, Md .; Sarah A. is the wife of A. J. Kauffman and they live in Rockefeller township, this county ; Mary E. married Frank Weiser, of Sunbury; Susan E. and Laura died in infancy.

Mr. Lower and his family are members of the New Lutheran Church in Sunbury. IIe has al- ways been an interested church worker. and has given many years' service in the councils of the different churches with which he has been iden- tified at the various places in which he has re- sided ..

JOHN W. ZERBE, postmaster at Shamokin, Northumberland county, bears a name which has been known in this section from the time his grandfather came liither out of Berks county, founding a family which has ever since been count- ed among the worthy citizens of the region and in whose honor a township has been named. Zerbe valley and Zerbe run also help to perpetuate the name, and there is a Zerby in Center county doubt- less of the same origin. The Zerbe Valley Rail- road. a line fifteen iniles long, was incorporated

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NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Sept. 1, 1867, and became a part of the Philadel- phia & Reading system in 1871.

Among the registered passengers who came over in the early days appear the names of John Philip Zerbe, Martin Zerbe and Lorenz Zerbe, brothers, who according to Rupp's "30.000 Immigrants" made the passage together in 1710, coming across with the Huguenots. Lorenz Zerbe settled that year at Scholarie, N. Y., and in 1720-22 was one of those who emigrated thence to Pennsylvania, where he settled on the Tulpehocken creek, be- tween what are now Womelsdorf and Bernville, Berks eounty. He had one son who is of reeord, John Zerbe, who in 1761 built a mill on the Tul- pehoeken creek which was in operation until burn- ed, about five years ago (the letter from which most of this information was taken was written Nov. 23, 1909) ; the corner stone bearing the date was still in the wall a short time ago.

It is the general contention of those who have been eolleeting family records that all of the

John Zerbe (son of Lorenz) and his two wives (he married Catarina Stup June 4, 1744), his children numbering twenty-four in all, twenty sons and four daughters. Some hold that the Zerbes are not all his deseendants, but that they come from the three immigrant brothers men- tioned ; but np to this time no record has been unearthed to show that Jolin Philip and Martin Zerbe, the two brothers who aceompanied Lorenz, were ever married. A great number, however, · from various States, have been traeed baek to the twenty sons of John, and though many spellings of the name are found in the different branehes of the family-Zerbe, Zerbey, Zerby, Zerbo, Zerba, Zerbee-all who bear it are supposed to be his posterity. In the first half of the nineteenth cen- tury many of the name went West, settling in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, ete., so that its representatives are now seattered well over the country, and they are found in the professions as well as among agricultural and mechanical workers. As to the origin of the name, it is found in Franee, spelled Zerbo: and in 1505 one Gabriel Zerbi, an Italian anatomist, wrote a work entitled "Anatomy of the Human Body," a copy of which may be found in the Astor Library, in New York Citv.

Daniel Zerbe, great-grandfather of John W. Zerbe, of Shamokin, came to this region from Berks eounty by wagon and was among the early settlers in what is now Lower Mahanoy township. lived about two miles from what is now Dalmatia. He is buried at the Stone Valley church in Lower Mahanoy township. To him and his wife, Maria, were born eight ehildren : Thomas. the grand- father of Jolin W. Zerbe: Joseph, who died in Dalmatia. Northumberland eounty; John. who died in Stone Valley (he left no posterity ) ; Daniel,

who died unmarried; George, who died at Georgc- town, Northumberland county (he married Fibbie Spengel, and two of their children survive, John and Ellen) ; Rebeeea, who married Adam Bowman and moved to Illinois, where she died; Catharine, who married David Schwartz, both dying in Michi- gan ; and Elizabeth, who married Adam Alman.

Joseph Zerbe, son of Daniel, married Catharine Meck, and they had thirteen children: Henry, of Shamokin, who married Fibbie Alman (he served three years during the Civil war as a mem- ber of Company L, 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry, entering as a private, and receiving promotion to the rank of corporal) : Joseph, a miner, living at Mount Carmel : George, who died in 1908; Dan- iel, a resident of Dalmatia; Samuel, who lives at Millersburg, Pa .; Jonas, of Shamokin; Elizabeth, married to Andrew Campbell ; Catherine, married to Jaeob B. Bright ; and others who died young.

Thomas Zerbe, son of Daniel, was a farmer in Lower Mahanoy township, this county, where he Zerbes in this country are deseended from this lived and died. He married Elizabeth Gorman, and they had children as follows: Jesse was kill- ed by a bull while at work at his barn, in Kansas ; Thomas is the father of John W. Zerbe; Benjamin lives at Beavertown, Snyder Co., Pa .; Elias lives at Altoona, Pa. ; Sallie is married to Henry Mil- ler, and they live in Shamokin : Rebecea married George Heitzman, of Kansas: Katie married Elias Paul. who died in Shamokin.

Thomas Zerbe, son of Thomas, was born in Lower Mahanoy township, Northumberland eoun -. ty, and eame to Shamokin when a young man, finding employment at the mines. Later he set- tled on his father's homestead in his native town- ship, taking over the farm, which he is still culti- vating. He has not only been a prosperous farmer, but he is a well known man in the county, which he has served two terms as commissioner in the most intelligent and efficient manner. He is a Republican in politics, and a Lutheran in religious matters. Mr. Zerbe married Catherine Messner, daughter of Philip Messner, and to them were born seven children : A son that died in infaney : Charles. deceased ; John W .: James, of Reading, Berks Co., Pa .; Joseph, of Dalmatia, Northumber- land eounty; Webster, of Lower Mahanoy town- ship, this county; and another son that died in infancy.

John W. Zerbe, son of Thomas, was born Feb. 16. 1864, in Lower Mahanoy township, and re- ceived his edueation in the publie schools of the He home locality. While yet a boy he began to work in the mines. continuing thus until he was in huis twenty-eighth year, when he was given a posi- tion in the police department of Shamokin, and lie remained with that department for twelve and a half years, until appointed to the postmaster- ship, in the year 1903. He has proved a capable and faithful official and has given general satis-

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faction in the office. His standing in the borough, Their fathers were brothers, sons of Jacob Reitz both personally and as public servant, is unques- and grandsons of Andreas Reitz. The family is tionably good. Fraternally he unites with the of French origin and is now numerous in the State P. O. S. of A. and the Knights of Malta, and in of Pennsylvania. church connection he is a Lutheran.

In. 1886 Mr. Zerbe married Clara Kerkam, daughter of Wilhelm and Elizabeth Kerkam, the former a well known business man of Shamnokin. They have had three children, but only one sur- vives, May.

EDWARD S. MILLER, late of Herndon, Northumberland county, was a resident of that place for a number of years before his death, com- ing to Northumberland county in 1882 or 1883. He was a native of Strausstown, Berks Co., Pa., born July 24, 1851, son of Michael and Catharine (Klahr) Miller.

Upon his removal to Northumberland county Mr. Miller located at Herndon, where he made his home to the end of his days, dying there Feb. 14, 1896, at the age of forty-four years, six months, twenty days. He is buried at Herndon. For sev- eral years he was a traveling salesman for the shoe house of Sinith, Schaeffer & Co., of Philadel- phia, his territory being in Snyder, Dauphin, Schuylkill, Northumberland and Juniata counties. Pa. He was a successful business man and well liked wherever known. Politically he was a Re- publican, and in religion a Lutheran, his family also belonging to that church.

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Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 2, Part 20

Author: Floyd, J.L., & Co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, J. L. Floyd & Co. Number of Pages: 1024

Author: Floyd, J.L., & Co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, J. L. Floyd & Co.
Number of Pages: 1024