USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Genealogical and personal history of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Volume I > Part 25
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
315
LYCOMING COUNTY
country by Leonard Ulmer, who was born in Wittenberg, Germany, January 5, 1764, the only son of Thomas and Regina Ulmer, with whom he migrated to the United States in 1804, the voyage extending over a period of eleven weeks. They came with a little band that formed the Bloomingrove denomination, their object being to secure religious free- dom. The journey from Philadelphia to Williamsport was tedious, and upon his arrival in the latter place, after refusing to purchase river bot- tom lands, went six miles further north, because the pine trees were larger there, and became one of the pioneers of Bloomingrove, so named on account of the dogwood blossom, purchasing the old homestead on which the Bloomingrove church now stands. The farm is now in the possession of the fourth generation of direct descendants. He was very active as a trustee in this early church, and under the influence of the church established a fine common school, German, which was taught by the Rev. Mr. Holler.
Leonard Ulmer was married three times. First to Christiana Gohl, no issue. Second to Catharine Wendle, who bore him three children- Dorothea, Leonard and John. Third to Rosiana Winnman, who was born March 12, 1777, and died April 13, 1859. Their marriage oc- curred prior to his emigration in 1804, and she shared with him the pioneer life. Seven children were the issue of this union: Abraham, who died in Germany; Jacob, who settled in Rose Valley and married Margaret Heim; Regina, who died when nineteen years of age; Chris- tiana, who became the wife of Joseph Gross; Isaac, who married Mar- garet Wacker, and received part of the old homestead; David, mentioned hereinafter; and Mary, who became the wife of William Winnman. Leonard Ulmer died January 23, 1837, and his remains were interred in Bloomingrove Cemetery. His wife survived him twenty-two years, during which time she resided with her son David on the old homestead.
316
LYCOMING COUNTY
The parents of Leonard Ulmer were buried in a private cemetery on the old homestead.
David Ulmer, youngest son of Leonard and Rosiana (Winnman) Ulmer, was born in 1814. His early education was acquired in the German school maintained by the Bloomingrove Dunkard church, taught part of the time by the Rev. Mr. Holler, and which was situated just across the road from the present Bloomingrove church. His father died when he was twenty-two years of age, and he took charge of the home- stead, which is still in the possession of the family. The only business he ever followed was that of farming, in which he was exceedingly suc- cessful, clearing a good portion of the farm and bringing the soil to a high grade of cultivation. He served in the capacity of supervisor, his term of office extending over a period of twelve years. He was one of the staunch and loyal members of the Bloomingrove Dunkard church. At the age of twenty-three years he was united in marriage to Sophia Marquardt, daughter of Stephen and Sophia Marquardt. The Mar- quardt family migrated to this country from Germany in 1831, when Sophia was fourteen years old; there were six children in the family; they settled in Anthony township on the farm now owned by Abraham Kiess. The children of David and Sophia Ulmer were as follows : Sophia, born in 1838, married Abraham Bidelspacher, no issue; she resides on the Bidelspacher farm in Bloomingrove. Mary, born in 1839, resided with her parents until their deaths, after which she lived with her brother on the old homestead until her death, April 1, 1899. David C., born June 22, 1841, died January 10, 1904, mentioned at length in the following paragraph. Joseph, born November 2, 1845; in early life he learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed for some time, and then engaged in the grocery business on East Third street, Williamsport, his present location. He married Elizabeth Waltz, and their children
317
LYCOMING COUNTY
are: Mary, wife of Menis Kackenmeister; Frank, who married May Edler; John, and James, who married Genevive Rank. All the mem- bers of the family reside in Williamsport at the present time (1905). David and Sophia Ulmer, parents of these children, began to fail in health in the fall of 1888, passed away about ten days apart, and their remains were interred in the family plot in the Bloomingrove cemetery.
David C. Ulmer, eldest son of David and Sophia (Marquardt) Ulmer, was born June 22, 1841, in Bloomingrove, Hepburn township, on the old Ulmer homestead, upon which he resided all his life. His education was mostly elementary, he being a student in the German school maintained by the Dunkard church, which was then under the instruction of Christian Heim, and he received several months of Eng- lish schooling when the public school system was inaugurated in that section. His occupation was that of a farmer, in which he was very successful. He was a man of broad mind and gigantic physical strength, having been six feet two inches tall, well developed and proportioned, and was never sick until his final illness, when he was seized with heart failure in November, 1893, and died January 10, 1904, aged sixty-two years, six months and eighteen days. He was a Democrat in politics, but being a very conservative man and avoiding publicity in any form would not allow his name to appear as a candidate for public office. His wife, Elizabeth Barbara (Bauer) Ulmer, born September 2, 1847, near Buttonwood, Lycoming county, was one of twelve children born to Elias and Mary Bauer, who moved from Bucks county some time before and were among the pioneers in the community known as Block House. When nine years of age she was placed with the family of George Beck, where she remained until attaining young womanhood. She then spent several years working about with various people, and in 1873 became the wife of David C. Ulmer, and the mother of three children: I. Jevi
318
LYCOMING COUNTY
Joseph, born April 24, 1875, mentioned at length hereinafter. 2. Reuben David, born January 13, 1879, received his early education at Klumpp's School, Hepburn township, and later attended the Lycoming County Normal School for one term. The winter of 1901 he spent at Cornell University, taking the short course in agriculture, and since then has spent his entire time and attention on the farm, assuming entire charge of the same since the death of his father. On February 3, 1904, he married Margaret Bidelspacher, daughter of Christian and Catharine Bidelspacher, and they reside on the old Ulmer homestead in Bloom- ingrove, on which Leonard Ulmer settled in 1804, this being the fourth generation. 3. Mary Sabina, born April 21, 1885, attended the Klumpp's School, and during the summer of 1904 attended the Lycoming County Normal School. The winter of 1904-05 she served in the capacity of teacher in the school at Forest Glen, Woodward township. Mrs. Ulmer, mother of these children, resides on the old homestead.
Levi Joseph Ulmer, eldest son of David C. and Elizabeth B. (Bauer) Ulmer, was a student at Klumpp's School, Hepburn township, for twelve winters, but never more than five months at a time, during which time he received the instruction of some of the best teachers of that institution. In the spring of 1893 he entered the Lycoming County Normal School, at Muncy, J. George Becht being principal at that time, and the following winter was qualified to accept the position of teacher in the Limber Bridge School in Woodward township. The following summer he engaged in agricultural pursuits on the home farm, attended the Normal School during the fall term, and the winter of 1894-95 taught the Level Corner School in Piatt township. He attended the Normal School again during the fall of 1895 and graduated therefrom in 1896, teaching the home school during the winter. In the spring of 1897-98 he attended Dickinson Seminary, and in the fall of the latter
RESIDENCE OF J. H. LINCK
-
Trick
319
LYCOMING COUNTY
named year entered Bucknell University as a freshman, graduating there- from with the class of 1902 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. During the spring of 1901 he was instructor at the Lycoming County Normal School in Science and Mathematics. In the summer of 1902 he was elected instructor in Science in the Williamsport High School, and in 1904 became head of the Department of Science in the same insti- tution.
At the age of nineteen years, Mr. Ulmer became a member of the Hepburn German Baptist church, which connection has since continued, and during this time he has served as a teacher in the Sunday School attached thereto. He adheres to the principles of the Prohibition party, but is not a partisan in any sense of the word, and casts his vote as he believes the welfare of the county and community demands, irrespective of political party. He is a member of the Demosthenian Club, a local ora- tical fraternity at Bucknell University, and an active member of the National Educational Association. During his collegiate course he was closely connected with the Young Men's Christian Association, and with the literary and society work of the college. Mr. Ulmer recalls with pleasure his youthful days when his grandmother read German stories to the children evening after evening during the long winter months, and thus created in them a desire and love for good literature. Mr. Ulmer is unmarried.
J. H. LINCK.
J. H. Linck, a representative citizen of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, who occupies a high position in the commercial circles of that city, and whose career up to the present time has borne unmistakable evidence of ability, natural and acquired, was born in Tioga county, Pennsylvania,
320
LYCOMING COUNTY
March 24, 1844, a son of John and Catharine ( Heyler) Linck, natives of the same county.
The common schools of his native county afforded him an oppor- tunity of obtaining a good, practical education, which thoroughly qual- ified him for an active business life. His first practical experience was gained in the capacity of bookkeeper, and later he was employed in a hardware and stove store. In 1873 he took up his residence in Will- iamsport, Lycoming county, succeeding the firm of White & Taylor in the hardware business, and continuing the same until 1887, a period of fourteen years, and then organized the Williamsport Hardware and Stove Company, one of the leading industries of the city, of which he has since been president. In addition to this important enterprise, which gives regular employment to a number of skilled artisans and work- men, Mr. Linck is the owner of the West End Furniture Company. He is a man of sound judgment, broad intelligence and business acumen, his investments have always been conservative and safe, and hence he accumulated an estate estimated among the most valuable in this sec- tion of the state. He was one of the original stockholders of the Dem- orest Sewing Machine Company and the Lycoming Rubber Company, and was formerly a director in the latter institution. He is a stockholder and director in the Emery Lumber Company, a stockholder in the Grand View cemetery, of which he was one of the original projectors, is in- terested in many of the industrial enterprises in Williamsport, and he was one of the organizers of the board of trade. As a citizen he has ever been alert, earnest and conscientious, keenly alive to everything which concerns in any way the well being of his adopted city.
In 1864, at the age of nineteen, Mr. Linck displayed his courage and patriotism by enlisting in Company E, Two Hundred and Seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, with whom he served until the
321
LYCOMING COUNTY
cessation of hostilities. During his term of enlistment he participated in the battles of Petersburg and Fort Stedman, also in several skirmishes. His political affiliations are with the Republican party, the principles of which he believes to be for the best form of government. He is a member of Reno Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He is the owner and occupant of the beautiful and commodious home known as "Over- look," corner of Sixth and Rural avenue, and is also the owner of the half-mile drive road connecting the Vallamount drive with Grand View cemetery.
In 1876 Mr. Linck was united in marriage to Angie Veil, daughter of Henry Veil, of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Their children are: Ed- gar, Charles, James and Nellie. Mrs. Linck is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church.
JOHN MATHIAS MCMINN.
Angus McMinn, or MacCalman, was born in Scotland, in the parish of Muckairn, Argleshire. He came to America in 1743 at the age of fourteen. The vessel in which he had passage landed near what is now Chester, Pennsylvania. His oldest son, Samuel, was born in 1757 and died August II, 18II. He was a farmer by occupation, and died of cancer of the liver. His eldest son, John Ross, was born in Willistown township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, September 20, 1792, and at an early age was taken to live with an aunt in Philadelphia until he was apprenticed to learn the milling trade. November 19, 1818, he mar- ried Mary Brown, of Irish and Welsh extraction, who was born April II, 1799, and died February 13, 1874, by whom he had seven children. He removed with his family from near Frankford (now in Philadelphia), to East Bradford township, Chester county, in April, 1828, where he
322
LYCOMING COUNTY
continued to reside and operate a flour mill on Valley Creek for about forty years. In 1867 he removed with his son Samuel to a farm in Honeybrook township, Chester county, where he died July 28, 1870, at the age of seventy-eight years.
John Mathias McMinn, the eldest child of John Ross McMinn and the subject of this sketch, was born at East Cheltenham township, Mont- gomery county, Pennsylvania, August 23, 1819. As he was a boy of frail body and studious habits, his father determined to educate him, that he might be well fitted to make his way in the world. With this object in view he sent him to the celebrated boarding school kept by Professor Gause, at Unionville, Chester county, where his chum was James Bay- ard Taylor, between whom sprung up a friendship that abated not while life lasted. At the age of seventeen years young Taylor became ap- prenticed to learn the printing trade, but before his time expired he left to realize his fondest dreams of seeing Europe, which gave to the world "Views A-Foot with Knapsack and Staff," and his subsequent re- markable literary career, which began July 1, 1844, and ended with his death in 1878.
John M. McMinn left school before he was eighteen, and engaged in teaching in the neighborhood of Downingtown, where he became ac- quainted with the Pyles, who persuaded him to look after their interests at the Washington Iron Works, Nittany Valley, Center county, Penn- sylvania, where he remained until the firm was dissolved. About this time he became captivated by Caroline, daughter of Elias P. Youngman, Esq., of Nippenose township, Lycoming county, and was married October 15, 1844.
He left the iron works and invested his savings with James Hays, of Cedar Run, in the tannery business in Penn's Valley, near Millheim; but, when he returned with his bride, he found that he had fallen in the
323
LYCOMING COUNTY
hands of a heartless sharper who now left him without money and with- out occupation. . He then went to Milesburg and engaged in teaching school for two years with remarkable success, but tiring of it on ac- count of the large number of incorrigible boys he engaged in lumbering with Samuel Mckean, on the Moshannon. By working very hard in the woods and investing all the money in his command he managed to get a thousand dollars worth of lumber piled upon the bank of the stream ready for rafting, when a forest fire burned the sawmill, and the flood of '47 swept all the lumber away, leaving him bankrupt in money and credit which subjected his family to scandalous persecution and hard- ships for a time. In 1849 he removed to Unionville, six miles away. and took up civil engineering, becoming connected with the Bald Eagle and Tyrone plank road as engineer and superintendent until its comple- tion. During this time he paid off all the claims held against him and ac- quired a comfortable home. The plank road referred to extended from Milesburg to Tyrone, a distance of thirty-one miles, and was a gre .. + enterprise in its day, as it was the means of developing a region of rich agriculture, mining and lumbering resources by affording easy transporta- tion to the head of the Bald Eagle Canal at Milesburg.
In September, 1853, he sold his property and removed his family to Williamsport. Here he had taken the position of first assistant under Robert Faries, then chief engineer in the construction of the Sunbury & Erie Railroad, having immediate charge of the division from Williams- port eastward. His name may yet be seen cut in the masonry of the south abutment of the Williamsport Railroad bridge. In 1852 it became absolutely necessary for the Sunbury & Erie Railroad Company (char- tered in 1837), to commence work between Sunbury and Williamsport (thirty-nine miles), or else allow the ground to be occupied by their rival, the Catawissa Railroad, so that the work was earnestly prosecuted
324
LYCOMING COUNTY
to a successful completion by the autumn of 1857. During a lull in his business engagements about this time, Mr. McMinn served as city en- gineer, and made the first lithograph map of the borough of Williams- port, which was published in 1857.
The Tyrone and Lock Haven Railroad. now known as the Bald Eagle Valley Railroad, was chartered in 1853, and was designed to connect with the Sunbury & Erie at Lock Haven, and the Pennsyl- vania Railroad at Tyrone, a distance of fifty-four miles. The project languished until 1856, when the scheme was revived, and by January 12, 1857, showed renewed life. The reorganization divided the line into two divisions and the preparations were made for completing the western division at once. Defects in the charter caused some delay, until a new 1 act of incorporation could be obtained, which was granted March 26, 1858. John M. McMinn became connected with this road as chief en- gineer about March 28, 1857, and his report to the managers, August I, 1857, says: "This entire western division is permanently located, and the grubbing done; grading, bridging and finishing ready for the superstructure of the 33 miles," etc. But the enterprise could not with- stand the notable panic that soon followed, and the work was suspended before January 1, 1860.
Up to the year 1860, Williamsport could boast of very little more enterprise than any other town along the river; quiet, conservative, easygoing, without ambition or energy, it had hardly got out of its old stage-coach ruts before the new railroad, just starting its wheels between Philadelphia and Erie, was beginning to awaken the people to a realiza- tion of their future possibilities in the business world. Then, too, the agitations and clashings between North and South were beginning to arrange the elements for a political storm that had become plainly dis- cernible. About this time came Rev. Cyrus Jeffries to Williamsport.
325
LYCOMING COUNTY
He was a gifted man intellectually, and a preacher in the religious de- nomination known as " United Brethren." He possessed deep religious knowledge and bold convictions, and at once became the leading exponent of anti-slavery principles, courting public debate. This resulted in a three nights' contest with a Mr. Atwood, of Lock Haven, in Young- man's Hall (the most spacious public room in town at that day), at which his opponent suffered ignominious defeat.
John M. McMinn and Cyrus Jeffries united their literary and po- litical zeal in starting a newspaper which they named the "West Branch Bulletin." Its avowed aim was to act as a special advocate for the various railroad enterprises centering in Williamsport, as well as the de- velopment of the resources of the West Branch Valley, upon which subjects Mr. McMinn indulged a constant and zealous enthusiasm. Po- litically the paper espoused the principle then recently crystallized from the best elements of the old American party, "Know Knothings," and Anti-Slavery party," that had become assimilated and produced the Re- publican party, with Lincoln and Hamlin selected as their leaders. The first number of this paper appeared on the 6th day of June, 1860, as a semi-weekly. In the following November ( 17th), it became a weekly, and passed into the hands of C. P. Van Gelder, and John R. Campbell, and continued to be regularly issued, with various changes in proprie- torship, until November 22, 1869, when it ceased as a separate and dis- tinct paper, and became consolidated with the Lycoming "Gazette," the old Democratic party organ, established in 1801. After this time it was published as the "Gazette and Bulletin," by an association, and has so continued to the present day as a Republican paper. Although Mr. Mc- Minn's business connection was severed soon after its establishment, yet his interest in the success of the papers never ceased, and he con-
326
LYCOMING COUNTY
tinued a regular contributor to its columns and a champion of its inter- ests as long as he lived.
Early in the year 1866 he was engaged in making surveys for the West Branch Coal Company, when he located the road that was after- ward built and operated in working the Tangascootac coal basin, with an outlet at Farrensville, Clinton county. During the same year he conducted a preliminary survey for a route up Pine Creek, called the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek & State Line Railroad, which has since de- veloped into the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek & Buffalo Railroad. After the termination of this latter engagement he became chief engineer of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company, and conducted their explorations and surveys for a route in the western part of Pennsyl- vania. He became identified with the Winslow Colliery Railroad Com- pany as their chief engineer soon after its corporation, April 10, 1862. The original design of this road was enlarged so as to become a line connecting with the Catawissa Railroad at Milton, and extending to Franklin, Venango county, where it was to connect with the Allegheny Valley Railroad, or the Atlantic and Great Western. The entire length of the line would have been two hundred and forty-eight miles. The Bennett's Branch Division was under construction from April 24, 1866, to May 1, 1868, between Driftwood, Cameron county, where it was to connect temporarily with the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad, a distance of sixty-four miles. The location obtained and adopted by the Win- slow and Colliery Railroad crosses the Allegheny Mountains at a summit which is at least three hundred feet lower than any other pass known to exist north of the Tennessee, with the advantage of having a max- imum grade of only twenty-six feet to the mile coming east; the sharpest curvature allowed was fixed at six degrees. It afforded a cheap construc -
327
LYCOMING COUNTY
tion, most favorable alignment, and a road that could easily be kept in repair and cheaply operated.
In June, 1868, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company sent a corps of engineers into this region, who boasted that "their company would spend six millions of dollars to prevent the construction of the Win- slow Colliery Railroad, and as they had the money they could build the road." At a point on Bennett's Branch, about six thousand feet above its mouth, where the locations of the rival roads crossed, a test case was started, and in the end the Winslow Colliery Railroad was buried, and the "Low Grade Road" built under the charter of the Allegheny Valley Railroad. On the lower end of the location of the line, from Milton to Franklin, the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company extended the Catawissa Division to Newberry Junction, to connect with the Jer- sey Shore, Pine Creek & Buffalo Railroad, in the summer of 1882.
Mr. McMinn always viewed with feelings of sadness the disasso- ciation of churches and burying grounds, as, by their separate estab- lishment, the latter soon became filled up, without anyone to exercise an especial care over them, resulting in neglect, and a little later on the most barbarous desecration. Observing that such a fate awaited the six small graveyards of Williamsport, he conceived the idea of founding a large cemetery where all the religious sects could at least adjoin in a locality where they would have room for enlargement without the pos- sibility of encroachment by the expansion of the city limits. He pub- lished a number of articles bearing upon this subject in order to enlist public interest in the matter, and one day observing that a tract of land desirable for the purpose could be bought, he consulted with G. W. Youngman, Esq., as to the propriety of the act, who advised him to buy it in his own name, promising that in case a company could not be formed he would help pay for it as an investment. Thus originated the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.