Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 2, Part 98

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 98

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).

In 1750 Elias Rattge (or Redche) secured a warrant from the proprietaries of Pennsylvania for sixty-five acres of land in Robeson township, Lan- caster county; in 175? this township was trans- ferred to Berks county. On Oct. 28, 1765, he pur- cliased 140 acres adjoining the sixty-five, and there he farmed until 1773. On June 12, 1773, he sold his property at Gibraltar to his only son, Elias, Jr., and moved to Cumru (now Brecknock) town- ship, in what was called "the Forest." There he purchased 134 acres, through which ran the Alle- gheny creek, and on the banks of that stream he erected a sawmill, which he conducted successfully until the time of his death. He also followed farming on this land. He died in 1786. aged about seventy years, and is buried at St. John's cemetery, Gibraltar-a part of his old farm. Elias Redche was twice married. By his first wife Elizabeth he had the following children: (1) Elias, born in 1745, married April 6, 1773, Elizabeth Hunter. died Jan. 3, 1829. (?) Barbara married John Kendall. (3) Mary, born Aug. 5, 1747. married

On Oct. 17, 1871, Mr. Rupp married Della Lyons, daughter of Thomas Lyons. The latter 'emigrated from Ireland. and on his arrival in this country first located at Pittsburg, Pa., thence com- ing to Shamokin, where he was one of the early settlers, among his neighbors being the Weaver, of Oley (born in 1752, died Jan. 11, 1816), and Zuern, Dailey, Fagely and Snyder families. To Mr. and Mrs. Rupp have been born children as follows : John E .: Thomas J., who lives in Sha- May 28, 1770. Gottlieb Christian, and died in mokin : Catherine M .. married to Daniel Hyland, 1832. (4) Catharine, born April 22, 1756, mar- of Philadelphia; George F. : William J., of Phil- ried Sept. 5, 1773. Christian Krauss, and died Feb. 14, 1809. (5) Elizabeth married Frederich Rapp Sept. 20, 1770, and died before 1786. Elias Red- che married (second) March 21, 1773, Rosina Zigler. widow of Adam Zigler. They had no chil- dren, and at his death in 1788 she married Chris- tian Eschelman, a neighbor. adelphia ; Raymond V. : and Mary V. and B. Irene, botli of whom are deceased. In February, 1909. the family moved from Shamokin to Marion Heights (Keiser post office). Mr. Rupp and his family are members of St. Edward's Catholic Church. Fra- ternally he is a member of the F. O. E., Aerie No. 533. He is an independent voter.

(II) Elias Redeay, Jr., only son of Elias, lived in Robeson township, where he carried on farming and conducted a sawmill. He carried on opera-

ABRAHAM REDCAY, foreman of the foun- dry department of the American Car & Foundry tions on the two tracts which he had purchased

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from his father in 1773, up to 1804, when he de- cided to sell out. He was an extensive dealer in land and a large property owner, owning several good farms and a few timber tracts on which he operated sawmills. On April 29, 1791, he and his wife deeded to Valentine Geiger and Herman Umstead in trust for the inhabitants of this sec- tion a tract of land containing one acre, ten perches,

Romig, and died Oct. 16, 1851. (3) John, born April 25, 1810, married Phoebe Schrack, born Oct. 31, 1817, died Feb. 13, 1854. He died in July, 1848. (4) Daniel, born Feb. 1, 1812. married Abby Kint, and died June 1, 1890. (5) Jacob, born June 13, 1816, died unmarried Dec. 18, 1898. (6) Catharine married Jolin Lewis.

(IV) Daniel Redeay, son of Jolni, was born it being part of the land he had purchased from his Feb. 1. 1812. and died June 1, 1890, and is buried father. This land contained the private burying at MeEwensville, Pa. He came to Northumber- land county in his young manhood, and settled at people of their section to bury their dead there. MeEwensville, where in 1859 he built the home in

ground of the Redcays, who in later years allowed It was the intention to have a church built there,

which he resided until his death. He was a con- but this was not done until 1809, and it is known tractor and builder, and many of the houses and as St. John's Lutheran and Reformed Church. It barns in that district were built by him. He was a member of the Lutheran Church, and in politics was a Democrat. He married Abby Kint, who was born at Brier Creek, Berks county, April 18, 1818, and died April 13, 1904, and is buried at McEwensville. Their children were: William and Christian, who both died young; Angeline, born Dec. 24. 1842, on the old homestead : Henry, born Feb. 4. 1845, living in Watsontown : Abraham ; and Edward, born in 1861, living at Scranton. is said that a log church was on the property be- fore the present church was built. All Christian congregations which contributed to its support were allowed to worship in the building, and they were also to maintain and keep the graveyard. Late in life Elias Redcay lost inost of his com- · petency, through disastrous financial investments. He was a member of the General Assembly from Exeter in 1805-1806, and during the Revolution- . ary war he served as a lieutenant of militia from

(V) Abraham Redcay, son of Daniel, was born Pennsylvania in Capt. Adam Beard's Company, Jan. 23, 1847, and in his youth learned the trade 3d Battalion, Lieut. Col. Jonathan Jones. He of molder at MeEwensville. In 1872 he came to was a great reader and delighted to tell stories of Milton. and became connected with the American the war. He died Jan. 3, 1829, and is buried in Car & Foundry Company, and in 1889 was made the old Redcay burying ground. On April 6, foreman of the foundry department, a position he still holds. During the Civil war he served as a private in Company B, 210th Pennsylvania Vol- unteers, spending nine months in the service of his country. He is a member of Henry Wilson Post, No. 129, G. A. R. He and his family attend 1842, and both are buried in the Muddy Creek the Lutheran Church. They reside at No. 231 cemetery in Lancaster county. (2) John. (3) 1773, Elias Redcay married Elizabeth Hunter, born 1752, died .Jan. 11, 1816, and their children were: (1) Henry. born Aug. 13, 1115, married Mary Catharine Neykirk, of Exeter. born Jan. 25, 1779. He died May 22, 1848, and she Sept. 3, Park avenue, Milton, in a home Mr. Redcay built Elias, born Dee. 28, 1182, married ( first) Jan. 29, and moved into at the time of his marriage. He 1809, Sarahı Harner, of Exeter. She died and was votes the Prohibitionist ticket, and takes a firm buried in Muddy Creek cemetery, and he married stand for his party's principles. (seeond) July 16, 1826, Elizabeth Strauss. of Bern, and she died Ang. 19. 1875, and both are buried at Adamstown, Lancaster county. (4) Elizabeth married Samuel Ludwig, of Cumru, and they moved to Missouri in 1832. (5) Maria married June 9, 1805, Jacob Ludwig.

Mr. Redcay married Susanna Gold, daughter of born Feb. 12, 1790. He passed away Jan. 28, 1867, David and Maria (Rissmiller) Gold, and they have had children: Edgar P., who died aged thirteen years, four months, twenty-one days: Eliza- beth, who married Bert Hill, and lives in Turbut township: Franklin G., a jeweler employed by G. Dal. Fox, at Milton ; and Clarenee H .. a mold- er. residing at Milton.

(III) John Redeav, son of Elias, was born in Robeson township, Berks county, about 1779. On April 10, 1810, he. with his father, purchased a farm of John Barr, of Exeter township, which they farmed until 1823, when they sold ont. He then moved to a farm near Schwartzwald in Exeter, which had a clover mill on it. There he remained until his death in 1836. and he is buried in St. John's graveyard at Gibraltar. About 1807 he married Esther Rhoads, of Amity township, Berks county, and they had children as follows: (1) Mary, born Oct. 14. 1807, married Thomas Lewis. (2) Betzy, born April 10, 1809, married Pete

CHARLES LEVAN KREMER, of Sunbury, whose business and official activity has gained him a wide aequaintanee, has been a prominent con- tractor and builder, and is now engaged in the real estate business. Ile is a son of Jacob Kremer. who as sheriff and treasurer of Northumberland county won popularity and friends.

Jacob Kremer, son of Benjamin, was born April 30. 1822, in Albany township, Berks Co., Pa., and was but a child when brought by his parents to Northumberland county. He obtained a liberal

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education attending school at the various places Kate was born and lived all her early life. She in which the family resided during his early life. married Robert Van Horn, who died in 1885. In After reaching his majority he engaged in the 1895, after the death of Mrs. Finney, Mr. Finney stock business at Allenwood, and during the Civil war supplied horses for all branches of the army service. In 1879 he became owner of the "Mansion House," at Watsontown, where he passed the re- mainder of his life. Though a resident of North- umberland county for less than twenty years, Mr. Kremer attained unusual prominence. In 1884 he was elected sheriff of Northumberland county, and in 1887, before the expiration of his term, he re- ceived the Republican nomination for county treasurer, and was elected. He died March 6, 1892, and was buried at Watsontown.

On Jan. 6, 1853, Mr. Kremer married Julia Ann Allen, eldest daughter of Isaac and Jane (Piatt) AAllen, of AAllenwood, Union county, which place was named in his honor. Mrs. Kremer was born Dec. 25, 1829, and died Dec. 29, 1902. She was the mother of nine children, four of whom, George W., Newton, Boyd and John, died in in- fancy, and the surviving are: Sarah Alice, wife of Charles G. Purcell : Allen, I., who married Ada Taylor; Charles Levan, mentioned below ; Daniel A., who married Emma Forseman ; and Jennie L., married to G. R. Nauss.

Charles Levan Kremer was born Jan. 4, 1857, at Allenwood, Union Co., Pa., and attended the district schools and at Williamsport. He came to Sunbury in 1884-85, at which time he became deputy sheriff under his father. He served dur- ing his father's terin, 1885-88, and again became deputy when his father took the office of treasurer, serving as such from 1888 to 1891, and then as deputy. nnder. Robert Montgomery, Democratic sheriff. In the fall of 1893 he was elected pro- thionotary of Northumberland eonnty by a majority of 1,400, and at the close of this term he was re- elected, by a majority of 1,399. serving six years in succession. During his service as prothonotary Mr. Kremer was also extensively engaged as a contractor and builder, in which line he was not- ably successful.

Fraternally Mr. Kremer is a Mason, holding membership in Maclay Lodge, No. 632, F. & A. M. : Northumberland Chapter, No. 174, R. A. M. : and Mount Hermon Commandery, No. 85, K. T.

On Feb. 25, 1897, he married Mrs. Kate ( Fin- nev) Van Horn, the ceremony being performned by Dr. Hamlin, of Washington. Her parents were Hamilton and Catharine Finney, of Kansas City, Missouri.

Hamilton Finney, her father, was a native of Northumberland county and spent his early life here. About the year 1840 he moved to Harrison- ville, Mo., and after the Civil war he went to Kansas City, where he took a prominent part in the political life of the city. There his daughter

and his daughter came back to Sunbury to live and here she met Mr. Kremer, whom she married in Washington, D. C., in 1897. For twelve years they lived in Sunbury and then bonght "Honey- wood Farm," on the hill opposite the town, where she lived until her death one year later. Mrs. Kremer occupied a unique place in the life of Sunbury. She was a woman of rare refinement and culture, having had the advantages of ex- tensive travel and study. She was an artist of unusual ability, studying in Paris and New York, where she did some notable work in oils. She was a linguist, and up to the time of her death spent much time in the study of German and French. Mrs. Kremer had a charming personality and possessed to an unusual degree the faculty of mak- ing and keeping friends. She was inost lavish in her hospitality and possessed gifts which made her home the center of the best sort of social in- tercourse. She died May 21, 1910, and is buried in. Pomfret Manor cemetery at Sunbury.

FREDERIC ANTES GODCHARLES, presi- dent and general manager of the F. A. Godcharles Company, of Milton, manufacturers of iron and steel nails, hinges, washers and puddled iron, is at the head of an industry which has done much for the borough's prosperity for over a third of a cen- tury. This company is the successor of the C. A. Godcharles Company, which was established in 1875 by the late Charles A. Godcharles. father of Frederic A. Godcharles. Employment is given at present to about four hundred, a fact which con- veys some idea of the importance of the Godcharles plant in its relation to the local industrial situa- ion. Mr. Godcharles is one of the young busi- ness men foremost in his section of Pennsylvania, and he has not only extensive business interests but also numerons social connections. Moreover, he has been conscientious in the discharge of his civic responsibilities, having served faithfully in public office, for which his ability and experience make him peculiarly competent.

Mr. Godcharles was born June 3, 18:2, oldest son of Charles A. and Elizabeth (Burkenbine) Godcharles. His father was one of the constituent members of the firm of C. A. Godcharles & Co .. organized in 18:5. His mother was the daughter of the late Samuel A. Burkenbine, one of the most prominent newspaper men of his day : she was also the granddaughter of Alexander Hughes, another member of the newspaper profession and at one tinie State printer, and the great-granddaughter of Col. Philip Frederic Antes, a colonel in the Revolution, a most prominent early citizen. one of the first president judges and for many years

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treasurer of Northumberland county. The subject of this sketch was named for this illustrious ancestor.

CHARLES AIKEN_GODCHARLES, son of Henry and Esther ( Price) Godcharles, was born at Farrands- ville, Clinton Co., Pa., Dec. 8, 1843. He attended the public schools for a few years, and learned the trade of nailmaker, under his father, who was a pioneer nailmaker in this country, traveling all the way from his native place in Canada by foot. At a very tender age Mr. Godcharles enlisted for service in the Civil war in Company G, 131st Pennsylvania Volunteers, and reënlisted in Com- pany A, 201st Pennsylvania Volunteers. After the close of the war he followed his trade at Duncannon, Pa., and later removed to North- umberland, where he accepted a similar position with Van Alen & Co. In 1874 he headed a com- pany which built a nail mill at Milton, later one at Towanda, and then a third at Northumberland. He retired from active business a few years before his death, which occurred January 11, 1903. He was a member of the Masonic Fraternity, belong- ing to all the bodies, and was a prominent member of the Republican party.

On June 25, 1905, the F. A. Godcharles Com- pany, successors to the C. A. Godcharles Company. was incorporated, Frederie A. Godcharles becom- ing president and general manager: Walter A. Godcharles, vice president : and William B. Godcharle's, secretary and treasurer, these officers being brothers .:

Frederic A. Godcharles received his preparatory education in Milton, graduating from the high school in May, 1888, after which he took a course in electrical engineering at Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., graduating in 1893. Since that time he has been associated in business as above stated. His principal interest is in the F. A. Godcharles Company, of which he is the title member, but he has also formed other important connections, local and otherwise. He is a director of the Garrett County Coal and Mining Company. He is also interested in other corporations, either because of the advantages they offer, the locality or because they appear attractive propositions for the invest- ment of capital. In short, he is a typical modern progressive business man. In 1910 he bought The Miltonian, the only weekly newspaper of Milton. the first newspaper of the place and the oldest in the county, it having been established by Henry Frick in 1816 and published without interruption since. This paper has grown wonderfully in the past year and ranks with the largest and best in this section of the State.

Mr. Godcharles served throughout the Spanish- American war with the 12th Regiment, Pennsyl- vania Volunteer Infantry, and he has been a eap- tain and inspector of rifle practice in the 12th Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard. He was

a member of the lower house of the Pennsylvania State Legislature, session of 1901, and in Nov., 1904, was elected to the State Senate; he served on the Inaugural committee, Appropriations, Pub- lie Roads and Highways, Military, and as chairman of the committee on Game and Fish. He is a past officer in the Sons of Veterans and Knights of Malta, and a charter member of the Milton Lodge, B. P. O. Elks. He is a prominent member of the Masonie Fraternity, being a past officer in Lodge, Chapter and Commandery and a member of the Council, Scottish Rite (in which he is a thirty- second degree Mason) and Mystic Shrine. He is at present serving his fifth year as district deputy grand master for the Forty-sixth Masonic district.

Mr. Godcharles has just published a history of Freemasonry in Northumberland and Snyder counties, which is the largest work of its kind ever attempted in the fraternity. He is a member of the Harrisburg Club of Harrisburg, the Union League Club of Philadelphia, the Ross Club of Williamsport, the Milton Rod and Gun Club, the Otzinaekon Rod and Gun Club of Clinton County. the Automobile Club of Central Pennsylvania (of which he is president ), the Motor Federation of Pennsylvania (of which he is chairman of the touring committee), a director of the Pennsyl- vania State Sportsmen's Association and a mem- ber of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science. When in college he became a member of the Phi Kappa Psi and the Theta Nu Epsilon fraternities. His favorite recreations. as may be gathered from the foregoing, are auto- mobiling, hunting and shooting. He is a Presby- terian in religion and a Republican in politics.

On June 15, 1904, Mr. Godcharles was married, in Washington, D. C., to Mary Walls Barber, of St. Mary's county, Maryland.

ISAAC M. GROSS, of Sunbury, who followed the milling and lumber businesses for a number of years, has been a resident of the borough since 1814 and has been a useful citizen and a respected member of the community during all those years.

Mr. Gross was born in Snyder county, Pa .. Aug. 5, 1845, and he is a great-grandson of Michael Gross, an early settler in Berks county, Pa., wlio lived and died there. Israel Gross, son of Michael, moved thence to Snyder county when a young man, being among the early settlers in his loeality. He was a farmer on Blue Hill. just across the river from Fort Augusta, where his grandson, Isaac M. Gross, now lives.

John Gross, son of Israel, was born in 1833 in Snyder county, opposite Fort Augusta, and died in 1876, being killed in a sawmill. He is buried at Shamokin Dam. He married Mary Gougler. daughter of George Gougler, of Snyder county, and granddaughter of the late Capt. Jacob Hummel. a widely known man in his day, who served as a

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captain in the Revolutionary war; he was the Stephen and died in England; William, who second person buried in the cemetery at Selins- served three months in the English army before grove. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. he came to America, in 1853, and served here John Gross: Milton G .; Olivia J., who married through the Civil war; John, who died young; Jane; Caroline ; and Amelia. Dr. Bordner (both are deceased) : and Isaac M.

Isaac M. Gross received his education in the public schools of Snyder county. In his early manhood he was in the milling business, and be- fore his removal to Sunbury was in the lumber business from 1866 to 1873, at Shamokin Dam. In 1874 he settled in Sunbury, where he continued to carry on the himber business. retiring from active pursuits in 1893. Since 1895 he has lived at his present home, Fort Augusta, a beautiful place along the river front in Sunbury. He has taken a public-spirited interest in the welfare of the borough, and served two terms in the council, to which he was first elected in the year 1899.

On Jan. 21, 18:4, Mr. Gross married Amelia Lucust Hancock, and to theni have been born two daughters, Olivia J. and Ella B., the former of whom is deceased. Ella B. Gross married William M. Rossiter, of Sunbury. and they have six chil- dren, Jane A., Gertrude B., Monroe C., Mary R., William M. and Marcella G.

Mrs. Gross is a woman of intelligence and of enterprising disposition. Born at St. Blazey, Cornwall, England, in 1849, she learned the mil- linery business in her native land and came to America with her parents in 1869. The family landed at Castle Garden, and stopped only two hours in New York, continuing their journey at once to Reading, Pa. Hotel accommodations were not so plentiful in those days as at present, and they were obliged to spend the night of their arrival in the railroad station. They settled at Locust Dale, in Schuylkill county, and Mrs. Gross was for three years engaged at her trade in Ashland, that connty, and at Mount Carmel, in Northum- berland county, before she commenced business in Sunbury, in 1872. She became one of the suc- cessful business women of the borough and re- ceived her full share of the local patronage. On May 5, 1895, at sheriff's sale, she bought the old Colonel Hunter property at Fort Augusta, well known all over Pennsylvania and in fact to his- torians everywhere. It has been improved and beautified through the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Gross until it is one of the notably handsome places along the river front.

William Hancock, father of Mrs. Gross, was an expert mining engineer and inspector of mines, and was well known in and around Locust Dale, where he made his home. He died Jan. 21, 1876, and is buried at Sunbury. He married Jane Lucust, daughter of John Locust. and they had a family of eight children : Richard, who came to America in 1852 and fought through the Civil war : Mary J., who died young ; Mary, who married Thomas

In 1911 Mrs. Gross made a tour of England, setting sail June 27th and returning in September. She visited her old home and many notable places ; attended Ambassador Reid's reception on July 4th; and had the honor of touching the original plan-now in the British Museum-of Fort Au- gusta, which was built in America by the British during the reign of King George III. Among other famons places she visited Westminster Abbey and the Cathedral of Canterbury. She was very proud to visit the Cathedral, as she had been con- firmed in 1862 at Tywardreath Church by Arch- bishop Longlev. who was Archbishop of Canter- bury from 1795 to 1869.

EARL M. ROUSH, of Sunbury, a young mem -- ber of the Northumberland county bar who is gain -. ing a creditable practice and standing in his sec- tion, is a member of an old Snyder connty family. His great-grandfather, Simon, Roush, moved to that county from Lebanon county and settled near Freeburg. His children were as follows: Charles, Edward, Joshna, Christiana, Amelia, Louisa, Esther and Alexander.

Alexander Roush, grandfather of Earl M. Roush. was born in 1822. and died in 1890. He was a farmer by occupation. and lived near Freeburg, Snyder county. He married Charlotte Mengis, born in 1835, died in 1900, and they had a family of eight children, of whom we have the following record : (1) Wallace is deceased. (2) Jacob M. is mentioned below. (3) Noah married Ella Gun- drumn, and they had children, Mabel. Nelson and Incy. (4) Elijah married Ellen Wertz, and they had one son, Simon. (5) Luther. (6) T. Jeffer- son married Sallie Wert. (2) Mary married John McCreary and had children. Clarence, Isabella and Walter. (8) Esther married William V. Baker.

Jacob M. Roush, son of Alexander, was born in 1848. in Snyder county, where he passed the great- er part of his life, in 1891 removing to Sunbury, Northumberland county. where he built a home. on Susquehanna avenne and passed the remainder of his life. His death occurred Oct. 31, 1903. Early in life he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed until his death. He was mar- ried at Freeburg to Sarah J. Schnee, daughter of Mathias Selinee ( whose wife's maiden name . was Rine). She survives him with the three chil- dren of their union, Earl M., Charlotta and Wil- liam. The last named is still a student. Charlotta Roush graduated from the Sunbury high school in June, 1902, and subsequently taught school two years before her marriage, in 1904, to John'

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A. Flick, of the firm of Flick & Leib, Sunbury. we find indexed Adam, Andrew, Balser, Herman, Mr. and Mrs. Flick have had two children, Vir- ginia and Bettie.

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Genealogical and biographical annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Vol. 2, Part 98

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