Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 2, Part 23

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 23

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).

On Sept. 14, 1887, Mr. Higgins married Mary MeGailey, and to them have been born seven chil- dren : Margaret. William, Aloysius, Ignatius, Jolm, to Northumberland county, and became a farmer, Mary and Sarah.

DAVID C. WOLF, senior member of the Sun- bury Construction Company, contractors and builders of the borough of Sunbury, was born Dec. 23, 1864, in Rockefeller township, North- umberland county, on the old Wolf homestead ..

. Mr. Wolf's first direct ancestor in this county was his great-grandfather, Nicholas Wolf, but there is carlier record of those of the name here, one Jolin Wolf, who lived in Mahanoy township, having made his last will and testament March 7, 1784, and died in April, 1784. His brother George and Robert Martin, Esq., were his execu- tors, and it appears that John had no children, but left all his estate to the children of his brother

Nicholas Wolf was a native of Lehigh county, where he lived upon and owned land in White Hall township upon which the Lehigh county alms- house is located. It is considered to be among the best agricultural land in that county. About 1812 he brought his family from. Lehigh county to Northumberland county, settling near Seven Points, in what is now Rockefeller township, on a farm later owned by Peter Oyster. On May 22, 1815, Nicholas Wolf agreed to pay Philip Weiser $113.35 on or before May 1, 1820, five year judg- ment note; under same date, May 22, 1815, ap- pears, Nicholas Wolf, $225, judgment note, dou- ble; another, $775.52. Nicholas Wolf and his family were Lutherans, and are buried in the old cemetery at Lantz's church. The older children- if not all-of the family were born in Lehigh county, before the removal to Northumberland. We have the following record of the family: Abraham was the grandfather of David C. Wolf and is mentioned below ; Joel, born Aug. 27, 1805, was a farmer, and lived near the Cross Road church in Rockefeller township, and he is buried at that church, where the record shows that he died Jan. 25, 1895 (his wife, Mary M., born Aug. 13, 1811, died Feb. 20, 1901) ; John lived in Hollowing Run, in Lower Augusta township; Thomas B., born Feb. 26, 1809, lived in Rocke- feller township, died April 2, 1864, and is buried at Wolf's Cross Road church (his wife, Susanna, died Nov. 28, 1887, aged seventy-five years, two months, sixteen days) : Henry settled at Red Bank, Jefferson Co., Pa .; Polly was Mrs. Bacon; another daughter married Israel Steffen; Betsy married William Bartholomew; Hannah married Daniel Conrad; Christian married John Cris- singer.

Abraham Wolf, son of Nicholas, was born Jan. 22. 1794, in Lehigh county, came with the family living near Seven Points, on a place of about 150 aeres which he owned and which is now the prop- erty of Ira B. Clement. He died Aug. 26, 1881, and is buried at Lantz's church. He was a Lutheran, as was also his wife, Susanna ( Fasold), who was born Oct. 8, 1798, at 10 o'clock in the morning. was baptized Oct. 18th, same year, in the Lutheran faith, sponsors Johannes Slichter and his wife Dorothea, and died Jan. 24, 1873. Their children were as follows : John died in Rock- efeller township; Lydia married Henry Malich; Jonathan died July 14, 1874, aged forty-six years, eight months, twenty-five days, and is buried at Wolf's Cross Road church; Maria married Henry Bloom ; Reuben is mentioned below; Gideon, born Feb. 13, 1832, lived in Sunbury, and died June

-F

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NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

24, 1909 (his wife Rebeeea, born June 22, 1828, including the "Aldine Hotel," and has consider- died May 24, 1909, and they are buried at the able repair work. The business has developed so that twenty men are given steady employment, and the firm is gaining a high reputation for sub- stantial and workmanlike construction and thor- ough reliability in the completion of all contracts.

Cross Road church) ; Aaron; Peter; Samuel mar- ried Eliza Zartman and they live in Los Angeles, Cal .; Henry is. unmarried and lives at Stella, Nebr .; Louisa married Theodore Chester, of Sun- bury.

Mr. Wolf is well known in local fraternal cir- Reuben Wolf was born Jan. 21, 1830, on his eles, being a member of Lodge No. 131, Woodmen father's farm in Lower Augusta (now Roekefel- of the World; of Circle No. 28, an auxiliary of the

ler) township, and passed the greater part of his life on that place, which had been in the Wolf name for many years. It is located in what is now Rockefeller township, five miles east of Sun- bury, and contains 130 aeres of valuable land, which Mr. Wolf cultivated profitably, being a prosperous farmer throughout his active years. Some three years before his death he retired and .died Oct. 8, 1910, when over eighty years old. He is buried in the new cemetery at Lantz's church, of which church he was in his later life a Lutheran member.

Mr. Wolf married Harriet Zartman, who died young, and is buried at Lantz's ehureh. By this union there were two children : A daughter who died when small; and Mary Alice, wife of John Martz, of Sunbury. Mr. Wolf married Mary Hanek, who was born in 1831, daughter of David and Anna ( Lantz) Hauek, of Rockefeller town- ship. Mrs. Wolf, now (1911) in her eighty-first vear, makes her home in Sunbury with her son David. The following children were born to this marriage : Clara, living in Sunbury, widow of Wil- liam Kniss (she had ehildren, Lloyd, Clayton, Algie and Anthony) ; David C .; Ammon, who died in childhood; Maggie, deeeased, who was the wife of Samuel Gass (she had ehildren, Herman, Daisy. Irwin, Margaret and Clara) ; Anthony, de- ·eeased, who married Emma Fasold (left six chil- dren, Harry, Esther, Mary, Joseph, Florence and Ruth) ; Amclia, wife of Irwin Hornberger, of Rockefeller township (had ehildren, Dolan, Ada and Grace) : and S. Gilbert, of Sunbury (who has . . a son Charles ).

David C. Wolf attended the publie schools of the home loeality and worked on the farm until 'he reached the age of twenty-five years. At that time he took up the earpenter's trade, which he learned under John Schreffler, and continued to Washington Fire Company, which he joined in follow that calling as a journeyman until he 1876 and which he has served as president, being formed his present partnership with William B. now vice-president of the company. He is a men- ber of the Catholic Church and a Democrat in political opinion.

Eister, in the year 1905. They do business under the firm name of the Sunbury Construction Com- pany. Besides general contracting and building, they deal in lumber and building material and engage to a considerable extent in the cement `bloek business. The office and yard is at No. 128 Awl street, Sunbury. The Sunbury Construction Company has erected a number of residenees in :the borough, as well as buildings of other kinds,

Woodmen of the World; and of Tribe No. 186, I. O. R. M. He attends the Reformed Church.

In 189: Mr. Wolf married Jennie H. Keefer, who was born in 1866, daughter of Samuel Keef- er, and died in 1899; she is buried at Lantz's church. In 1905 he married (second) Nora Start- zel, of Snydertown, this county, who died in 1907, at the age of twenty-eight years, and was buried

FRANK J. G. SMITH, general superintendent of the Mount Carmel factory of the Cumberland Shirt Manufacturing Company, is a young man of enterprise and ability and worthy of the re- sponsible position in which he has been retained for several years. The business of the company has more than quadrupled sinee he first came to Mount Carmel in its interest, but he has shown himself able to meet the increased demands and has not only kept peace with the business but an- ticipated many important ehanges.

Mr. Smith was born Oct. 27, 1874, at Ashland, Schuylkill Co., Pa., son of Joseph G. and Margaret T. (Ney) Smith. His father was born Mareh 18, 1849, in Pottsville, that county, and lived there until six months after he attained his majority. In 1870 he located at Ashland, where he found employment with Wesley Manley, under whom he learned carriage building and wagon making. On March 18, 1874, he engaged in that business at Ashland on his own account, and has continued same to the present, being one of the most sub- stantial and respected citizens of that place. He has been elected to various loeal offices, having served as couneilman, sehool director and tax col- lector of the borough, filling the latter offiee (to which he was elected in 1890) three years. He is vice-president of the Tax Payers' Association, and has long been a prominent member of the

On Jan. S, 1874, Mr. Smithi married Margaret T. Ney, who was born Mareh 30, 1834, in Schuyl- kill eounty, Pa., daughter of Jacob Ney, and died Aug. 15, 1903. There were twelve ehildren by this union, born as follows: Frank J. G., Oet. 27, 1874: Barbara M., June 10, 1876; Anna J .. March 17, 1878; William A., Aug. 14, 1879 (died

moved into the borough of Sunbury, where he at Snydertown. He has no family.

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NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

young) ; William L., Dec. 31, 1880; Stella T., iginally Huber, and according to Professor Kuhns Sept. 30, 1882 (died young) ; Margaret R., April is derived from an old German word, "hutre," in- 11, 1885 (entered the convent April 24, 1808, and plying possession of a small traet of land or a is now known' as Sister Rufenia) ; Josephine M., April 26, 1888; Joseph H., March 24, 1890; Stella N., Feb. 18, 1892: John L., Nov. 17, 1893; Luey A., Jan. 14, 1896.

Frederick Smith, grandfather of Frank J. G. date baek eight hundred years. In America the Smith, was born in Germany, and came to Am- eriea in 1848, when twenty-four years old. He and we have Huver, Hover, Hoober and Hoover.

settled in Pottsville, Pa., and was one of the early miners at that point, where he died when sixty- seven years old. His wife, Barbara M. Taan, was also a native of Germany, and they had a family of five children, viz. : Joseph G., Adam R., Mary T., Theresa J. and Lebold C.

Frank J. G. Smith received his edneation in the schools of Ashland. After eommeneing work in earnest he was with his father for two years, after which he was employed by John Dence, selling leathers for a time. He was later in the employ of the Light Company at Ashland for four years before he entered the employ of the eoncern with whiel he has since been associated. He was with the company at Ashland until transferred to Mount Carmel, in March, 1905. When he first came here the factory was a comparatively small affair, at Sixth and Oak streets, with equipment and ae- eommodation for sixty hands. In 1907 the pres- ent factory, 75 by 80 feet in dimensions, and three stories in height, was erected, and here three hun- dred and fifty hands are constantly employed in the manufacture of shirts with attached collars. An establishment which affords profitable employ- ment to so large a number, in a community of the size of Mount Carmel, is naturally of the utinost importanee, and the prosperity of the factory has a direet influence on the prosperity of the bor- ough. Mr. Smith, as general manager of this ex- tensive plant, not only oeenpies an important reia- tion to its owners, but to the local industrial situa- tion and his fellow eitizens in Mount Carmel gen- erally. His stability and thorough effieieney have won him good standing among business men, and personally he holds the respeet of all who know him.

On April 27, 1896, Mr. Smith married Rosie Seltzer, and they have the following children : Joseph, Francis, May, Raymond, Frederick, Rosie and Hilda.

In religions connection Mr. Smith is a Catholic, and fraternally he holds membership in the Knights of Columbus and the Red Men, in which latter order he is quite prominent, having served as distriet deputy. He is a Demoerat in political sympathy, bnt takes no active part in polities or public affairs.

farm, which would indicate that the family are descended from a sturdy raee of Swiss farmers, the original home of the Hubers having been in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. Their records name has undergone various changes in spelling,

Nearly fifty Hubers landed at Philadelphia prior to the war for independenee. Twenty-five more eame to America (landing at Philadelphia) before 1:49, the first being Hans Ulrich Huber, who landed Ang. 19, 1729. On Sept. 21, 1732, there arrived four brothers, Christian, Hans, Hans Martin and Jacob, the two last named being under sixteen years of age. Jacob, the youngest, set- tled in Bucks county, and there is record of a deed for property in Plumstead township, that county, to Jaeob Huber, 1748. In 1751 a son, Henry, was born to him.

Henry Huber, born in 1751, son of Jacob, mar- ried Margaret Kern, and they lived somewhere in Hilltown township, Bueks eonnty, where five children were born to them : Christian. Jacob, Phil- ip, Elis and Mary. In 1797 Henry Huber moved to Gwynedd township (now Montgomery county), settling on a farm of two hundred acres which he bought of George Maris for eighteen hundred pounds. After his death. which occurred April 9, 1809, the farm was divided into two tracts, of one hundred aeres each, the old homestead part go- ing to the son Philip, the other to the son Jacob. Margaret (widow of Henry) died Nov. 27, 1813. aged sixty-one years, nine months, 29 days. The daughter Elis married John Rile; the daughter Mary married William Kneedler.

Philip Hoover, son of Henry, was born July 20, 1782, and was a prominent man in his day. He was involved in the rebellion precipitated by the Alien and Sedition laws passed during the Adams administration, and served in the war of 1812. He was a captain of volunteers when only eighteen years old, was elected colonel of a regi- ment of militia, served as a member of the State Legislature, and was a prominent church man, one of the leading members of Bochm's Church, which he served as elder from 1803 to 1809. as deaeon from 1810 until 1823, and after 1823 again as elder. On Nov. 13, 1804, he married Mary Conrad, who was born Ang. 23, 1785, daughter of Hon. Frederick Conrad (member of Congress for four years), and died Oet. 17, 1868. To them were born thirteen children, only six of whom, however, reached maturity. The record of this family is as follows : Frederick W., born Jan. 17, 1806; Julian, Sept. 25. 1807 (died Nov. 30, 1808) ; Susanna. July 14, 1809 (died May 25.

HOOVER. The name Hoover, well known in various parts of Northumberland county, was or- 1810) ; Maria, April 13, 1811: Henry C., April

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NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANLI

5, 1813 (died Feb. ? , 1816) ; twin sons, July 6, He is engaged in the wholesale dairy business as 1815 (lived only three days) ; a daughter, Aug. 25, 1817 (lived only four days) ; Ann Catharine, March 5, 1819 (died Aug. 20, 1820) ; Hiram Con- rad, Oct. 23, 1822: Albert C., April 5, 1825; Ann Elizabeth, Dec. 11, 1826; Andrew J., Nov. 13, that office, Mr. Hoover is a Republican in political 1828.

Jacob Huber, son of Henry, born Oet. 28, 1287, eame to Upper Augusta township, Northum- berland county, after his marriage, about 1813, settling on a traet of 16: aeres, the farm of the late Benjamin Hoover, but now the property of the Odd Fellows' Orphans' Home Association, to which it was sold in 1898. Jacob Huber was a lifelong farmer. He and his wife Sarah, born Oet. 24, 1788, are buried at St. Luke's Church, Snydertown. They were Lutherans in religious faith. We have the following record of their eight children : Harriet, born Dee. 12, 1811, mar- ried William Martz and had ten children and thirty-one grandchildren : Margaret, born Aug. 25,

1813, married George Shipe and had eleven chil- lived for many years in Northumberland county. dren and twenty-three grandchildren; Thomas, born Jan. 16, 1816, died young; Jonathan, born Mareh 29, 1818, had ten children and twenty- seven grandchildren; Andrew, born Jan. 16, 1821, had ten children and eleven grandchildren; Catha- rine, born June 1, 1823, married Peter Stroh, and had eight children and fifteen grandchildren ; Benjamin, born Feb. 2, 1827, had ten children and seven grandehildren; Sarah, born June 28, 1830, died young. This family changed the spel- ling of the name to Hoover between 1843 and 1845.

Benjamin Huber or Hoover was born Feb. 2, 1827, and passed all his life on the same farm in Upper Augusta township, living and dying at the place of his birth. He purchased the homestead about 1855, and throughout his life was engaged in farming, in which he was successful. He was the first man to run a milk wagon in Sunbury. He was one of the active citizens of his community, serving a number of years as road supervisor (which office he was filling at the time of his death) and also acting as school director; lie helped to build the Evert schoolhouse. Politieally he was a Republican. He and his wife Margaret (Keefer), daughter of Daniel Keefer, had a fam- ily of ten children : Catharine, Reuben F., Annie E., Aliee; Elizabeth, Maggie, Lettie, William A. J., George and Clement.

WILLIAM A. J. HOOVER, son of Benjamin, was born May 28, 1863, in Upper Augusta township, and received his education in the local schools. He was reared to farming; but for seven years was engaged in railroading on the Reading road, becoming an engineer. Hle resigned, however, for the good of his healthi, and bought the old Coter- man homestead of 173 acres in Upper Augusta, upon which place he has farmed since April, 1899.

well as in general agricultural work, and has taken considerable interest in the welfare of his loeality, having served as roadmaster since 1903. He served two terms as school director, resigning from opinion. He is a Mason, holding membership in Shamokin Lodge, No. 255, F. & A. M.

In 1888 Mr. Hoover married Laura C. Mc- Williams, sister of Curtis Q. McWilliams, of Shamokin, and a native of Paxinos, Northumber- land county. Mr. and Mrs. Hoover have had nine children : Blanche E., who married Howard En- rich, of Shamokin; Benjamin S., deceased in in- fancy ; Alına C. ; Curtis McW. ; Eva M .; Lettie R., deceased in infaney; William Paul; Walter R .; and Mary E.

John Hoover, possibly of the same origin as the Hoovers previously mentioned, was born in one of the lower counties of Pennsylvania in 1780 and dying near Reed's station, in Shamokin township. Oet. 11, 1854. He was a farmer and very suc- cessful, owning three farms, one of which is now the property of R. S. Aucker and another owned by a Dnttinger. He was a Lutheran member of the "Brick" (Reed's) Church, where both his wives are buried. His first marriage was to Mar- garet Ritter, who died Nov. 11, 1828, aged forty- four years, the mother of eight children: Samuel is inentioned later in this article; Joseph married Mattie Katerman and had eight children; John married Elizabeth Wolverton and had four ehil- dren; Annie married George Krick and had six children ; Thomas married Katie Krigbaum and had four children; Rebecea married George Keller and had two children ; William married Lonisa Baldy and had six children : Solomon married El- len Brooks and (seeond ) Sallie Fredericks and had seven eliildren, four sons and three daughters.

For his second wife Mr. Hoover married Mary Harman, who died Nov. 25, 1883, aged eighty-four years, six months, twelve days; her mother, Eliz- abetli, lived in the neighborhood above Blooms- burg. Eight children were born to John and Mary ( Harman) Hoover, viz. : Louisa married Daniel Yost ; J. Harman lived at Pottsville, later at Ash- land and Schuylkill Haven, Pa. ; Henry is a resi- dent of Shamokin. Pa. ; Isaae, of Holton, Kans. ; Luther, of Williamsport, Pa. : George, of Holton, Kans. : Francis is mentioned below ; Amelia mar- ried Azariah Campbell.

Francis Hoover, insurance broker of Shamokin. Northumberland Co., Pa., was born Ang. S. 184 ?. in Shamokin township, and there grew to man- hood. He received the advantages afforded by the local public schools, but he is a self-made man. having made his own way from boyhood and risen to a substantial position through his own efforts.

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NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

In 1859 he commenced to learn carpentering, he was engaged in tanning in partnership with which he followed for eight years in all, and for another eight years was engaged at pattern-mak- ing. For the next sixteen years he had a store at No. 19 North Shamokin street, in the borough of Shamokin, carrying on a mercantile business, but he was obliged to abandon that line on account.of his healthı, withdrawing from it in 1892. For sev- eral years he was engaged in city work, being clerk of the poor district and for eight years health in- spector, and in 1909 he entered the fire insurance business, in which he has established a profitable patronage.

Mr. Hoover has been active in the various or- ganizations of a social, fraternal or religious na- ture with which he has been identified. He is a Methodist and served many years as trustee of the church, being long secretary of the board of trus- tees. He is one of the two surviving charter mem- bers of Shamokin Lodge, No. 664, I. O. O. F., of which he has been a member since 1865, and he also belongs to the Odd Fellows Encampment. Po- litically he is an independent Republican.

On Dec. 24, 1865, Mr. Hoover married Mary E. Lewis, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Douty) Lewis, of Pottsville, Pa., and they had a family of, seven children: Charles, born Feb. 4, 1867, died June 1, 1867 ; George W .. born Sept. 11, 1869, died in April, 1870; John Frederick, borni May 23, 1874, died Aug. 7, 1874: Mary E., born Oct. 10, 1876, married G. A. Buck, who is station agent at Sunbury ; Elmira R., born Sept. 7, 1879, mar- ried J. T. Shoener, a printer at Shamokin : Bes- sie A., born April 28, 1883, is unmarried and keeps house for her father ; Raymond F. is men- tioned below. The mother of this family died Dec. 15, 1907, aged sixty-three years, three months, three days.

RAYMOND F. HOOVER, son of Francis, was born Nov. 22, 1887, and acquired his education in Shamokin, attending the high school. When ser- enteen years old, on Jan. 6, 1905, he entered the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company at Sunbury, as clerk, and on May 14, 1909, received promotion for merit to his present position, that of chief clerk at the Reading freight station in Sunbury. Four men are employed at the station. Mr. Hoover has proved himself a re- liable young man, and he is respected for his in- dustry and capability.

his brother Joseph, doing business in Shamokin township for thirty years. After selling his in- terest in the tannery to Samuel Joseph settled at Bushnell, Ill., where he is buried. In 1867 Sam- uel Hoover sold out his interest in the tanning business, which is now. owned by William F. Kline, and bought a farm upon which he spent the re- mainder of his life in agricultural pursuits. He was an energetic and successful man, active in lo- cal affairs, served as overseer of the poor and in many other township offices, and was a member and generous supporter of the Lutheran Church. Fraternally lie was an Odd Fellow, belonging to the lodge at Snydertown. He married Sarah Lee, who was from the Swabian Creck district, born Nov. 12, 1804, in Northumberland county, and died March 27, 1872, just a month after her hus- band, whose death occurred Feb. 26, 1872. He is buried at Snydertown. Nine children were born to this couple, as follows: Sarah, born March 24, 1833, married William Reed, a farmer, and they lived at Reed's station, in Shamokin township; John, born Aug. 27, 1834, is deceased ; Jacob, born April 11, 1836, married Ella Shrives and lives in Bushnell, Ill., a retired hardware mer- chant and farmer ; Margaret, born March 13, 1838, married Lafayette Savidge, and they lived at Plum Creek and later at Snydertown, where she died, Mr. Savidge afterward continuing to make his home at that place (they are buried at the Eden Church) : Mary Ann, born Jan. 10, 1840, married Edison Wolverton and lives at Holton, Kans .; Louisa, born March 28, 1842, was the second wife of Lafayette Savidge, and is also deceased; Eli, born March 16, 1844, married Emma Wolverton and lived across the river at Riverside, Pa .. where he died (he is buried at Danville) : David, born Oct. 16, 1846, a retired farmer and carpenter of Snydertown, lives on the old homestead; Harriet, born Jan. 31, 1849, is unmarried and living in Snydertownl.

John Hoover, son of Samuel, was born at Sny- dertown Aug. 27, 1834, and before his marriage moved out to Ohio, where he died in 1873 at the comparatively early age of thirty-eight years. He is buried at Bloomingville, to which place he had first moved and where he married Hannah Mead, and they lived near North Monroeville, known as "The Prairie," in Erie county, later locating at

On Sept. 14, 1909, Mr. Hoover married Lillie Wales Corner, four miles east of Clyde, in San- M. Wetzel. daughter of Nathan G. and Kate (Eyster) Wetzel. of Sunbury. Mr. and Mrs. Hoover are members of the First United Evangel- . ical Churchi at Sunbury.

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Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 2, Part 23

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