USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Genealogical and personal history of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Volume II > Part 36
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Walter Clemons Horn, who attended the Muncy Normal School and the Williamsport Commercial College, is now occupying the posi- tion of bookkeeper and clerk with Messrs. Hinkleman and Quiggle, of the last named city. He married Miss Laura Wealty, and has one son, Harry, who was born February 1, 1905.
Lillian Alvira Horn completed her education at the Williamsport Commercial College, and is a stenographer.
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Wilbur Anderson Horn, who is a graduate of the Muncy Normal School, was for some time an instructor of public schools, but at present is finishing his course of electrical engineer at State College.
Florence Elizabeth Horn, instructor of music, is taking educational work.
The numerous cares arising from his farm and market business have prevented Mr. Horn from participating actively in public affairs. He nevertheless takes a profound interest in all matters relative to the general welfare of the community, including local history, and any well organized movement instituted for the collection and preservation of family records will most assuredly receive his earnest sympathy and support. He has raised and reared his family, and all are now mem- bers of the United Evangelical church at Quigleville. Mr. and Mrs. Horn have for many years been active in church work, always trying to the best of their knowledge to live up to the laws of Christ, and the doors of their home are always open to welcome the people of God."
THE RENTZ FAMILY.
The family of which Charles A. Rentz and Peter Edmund Rentz, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, are representatives, is of German origin, and is clearly so indicated by the name. The remote ancestor came from Coblentz, Germany, at a date unknown.
Of this parentage Philip Rentz was born in 1765 in this country, and followed the occupation of farmer in Columbia county, Pennsylva- nia. There he married Elizabeth Knorr, who was born in 1772. She was the daughter of Samuel Knorr, who was born in 1751 and died 1820. Philip and Elizabeth Rentz were the parents of the following children: John, Jacob, Henry Philip, mentioned at length hereinafter,
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Peter, Abraham, Daniel, Hannah, Elizabeth, Susan, Mary, Catharine, and Sarah. Philip Rentz and his family left Columbia county, where he was born, a few years after the year 1800 was ushered in, and be- came an extensive land owner in Clinton township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, known then and to many people now as Black Hole Valley. To the same locality, and buying adjoining farms, came about 1808, Frederic Deitrich and Jacob Hess, who had married sisters of Elizabeth (Knorr) Rentz, and also John Heilman (husband of Hannah Rentz), who purchased and cleared land on the east of grandfather Rentz's farm. Here Philip Rentz lived until his death in 1827, and his wife died sixteen years later, in 1843. In his last will and testament, of record in Lycoming county, Philip Rentz very carefully provided for the remaining days of his widow and for the division of his landed interests in Clinton township, taking care that it should be subdivided by lot or by arbitrators chosen from among the neighbors, and without the expense of court proceedings. This was subsequently done, and not long after the death of his wife the land formerly owned by him, by purchase from the other heirs, became vested in his two sons, Peter Rentz and Henry Philip Rentz, whose farms and homesteads have ever since been known in Lycoming county as the "Rentz Farms."
Henry Philip Rentz was born in Mahoning township, Columbia county, Pennsylvania, in 1804. He came with his parents to Clinton township, Lycoming county, and early in life and for a number of years owned and operated a tannery in Clinton township. He also carried on the business of shoemaker and saddler until at or about the year 1840; then, having acquired a considerable portion of the ances- tral acres, he took up the business of farming, which he carried on during the remainder of his life. He took a great interest in the temperance cause, and at the time of the civil war was an ardent Abolitionist. He
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was a Republican in politics, and a member of the Lutheran church, taking a lively interest in church affairs.
Henry Philip Rentz married Anna S. Bear in 1832. She was born in 1799 in Black Hole Valley, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and was the daughter of Isaac and Christiana Bear, who came from Lan- caster county, and were of German descent. Isaac Bear was born in 1753 and his wife in 1763. Mr. Bear died in 1805, and his widow lived until 1840.
Henry Philip and Anna (Bear) Rentz were the parents of two sons, Charles A. and Peter Edmund. Mrs. Anna (Bear) Rentz died in 1867. Henry Philip Rentz lived to the good old age of eighty-three years, living until 1887. Both he and his wife are buried in the ceme- tery of St. John's (Lutheran) church, between Montgomery and Muncy, where a suitable stone is erected to their memory.
The two brothers, Charles A. and Peter Edmund Rentz, have had, in some respects, a remarkable history. Both remained under the par- ental roof from the time of their birth, ministering to their parents. When they married they chose wives from the same family, and lived together at the home of Henry Philip Rentz as one family, having domestic and financial interests in common. Peter Edmund Rentz was born August 10, 1835, in Clinton township, Lycoming county, Penn- sylvania, where he obtained his education in the common schools. He spent his life in the pursuit of farming on the homestead until 1902, when he sold his interest to his brother, Charles A. Rentz, and moved to the city of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He was four years old when his parents moved to the farm, and at the time of leaving it had lived there sixty-three years. In March, 1903, he moved to his present home on Glenwood avenue, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Politically he is a Republican, with decidedly liberal tendencies. He is a member
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of St. Paul's (Lutheran) church, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, having formerly been a member of St. John's (Lutheran) church, of Clinton township. While living in Clinton township he served as deacon and trustee of his church at various times, and was one of the building com- mittee to rebuild that church after it had been destroyed by fire within recent years.
Peter Edmund Rentz married Harriet Appleman on December 29, 1868, and they were the parents of one child, Edith Mary, born January 29, 1870. Mrs. Harriet ( Appleman) Rentz died in April, 1893. Edith Mary Rentz attended the common schools of Clinton township, and also the Muncy Normal School, graduating therefrom. She is now married to William P. Hess, son of Samuel and Eleanor ( Hart) Hess, the latter a sister of the Hon. William W. Hart, president judge of Lycoming county. Mrs. and Mr. Hess have had one child, who died in infancy.
Charles A. Rentz married Sarah Anna Appleman, April 8, 1858, and they are the parents of the following children : I, Anna M., born February 16, 1859, died at the age of six months. 2, Jennie V., born June 10, 1860, wife of Walter C. Gilmore, of Williamsport, Pennsyl- vania. 3, Sadie, born August 12, 1862, wife of Herbert C. Thomas, of Montgomery, Pennsylvania. 4, Hattie, born January 11, 1864, died March 4, 1900. 5, Harry, born December 6, 1866, died January 14, 1867.
Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore have had three children, Charles Edmund, Anna, and Helen, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have had four children, Charles, Edith, Francis, and one who died in infancy.
Charles A. Rentz was born May 25, 1833. He received his pri- mary education in the common schools, and in 1850-51 attended Dick- inson Seminary, at Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He varied the occt- pation of farmer with that of a school teacher in the early day, having
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taught seven terms of public school, as the schools were then consti- tuted. This teaching was in Muncy Creek, Washington and Clinton townships. In that early day the school houses were warmed by fire- wood cut by the teacher or pupils. The pens were made mostly from quills. The school term was three months of twenty-six days to a month, which length of term was increased to four months before he quit teaching entirely. The salary was from $20 to $25 per month, and discipline was enforced by the liberal use of the rod. This was in the good old time of the common schools. Mr. Rentz became a member of the St. John's (Lutheran) church of Clinton township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, when about sixteen years of age, under the pas- torate of the Rev. Geo. Parson, D. D. He is now a member of St. Paul's (Lutheran) church of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
After his experience in teaching he devoted himself exclusively to the business of farming, in connection with his brother, Peter Edmund Rentz, and continued in the farming business until the year 1903, when he sold the homestead and removed to Williamsport, where he now lives, at No. 816 Baldwin street, on the south side of Brandon Park. He has always kept up his interest in the public schools, having held the office of school director in Clinton township, and since coming to Williamsport has spent much of his time in visiting the public schools and other educational institutions. He is always ready and glad to make any suggestions to the school or the teachers, when called upon so to do. He is especially rich in reminiscences of the olden times, and is quite able to make the modern common school pupil understand the great advantages they have over the good old days of fifty years ago. He has always been interested in the German language, and although not thor- oughly conversant with it as a spoken language, has mastered it suffi- ciently to be able to read and intelligently comprehend all the master-
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pieces of German language. Beside this, Mr. Rentz has been an ardent student of phonography, and for a number of years has kept a daily record of the things that happen, in shorthand. The natural sciences appeal to him very strongly, and when it is considered that much of these studies had to be carried on in the evening, after his day's work as a farmer was done, this line of accomplishments is somewhat remarkable. Mr. Rentz has always been a Republican in politics, but he is not a strict party man, and believes thoroughly in choosing the best man for the office to be filled, and always acts up to that belief.
The wives of Charles A. and Peter Edmund Rentz came of quite a remarkable family. They were the daughters of Caleb and Mary (Rishel) Appleman, of Montour county, Pennsylvania. Caleb Apple- man was the son of Baltis and Mary (Melick) Appleman, of Columbia county, Pennsylvania. This family of Applemans is one of the oldest in Montour county, and is very well known and very well connected in that part of the state. Caleb Appleman and his wife were the parents of . the following children: Elmira Carr, now deceased; Sarah Anna, born July 16, 1835, wife of Charles A. Rentz, of Williamsport, Pennsylva- nia; Agnes, wife of James Vandevender, of Northumberland, Pennsyl- vania ; Margaret, widow of Jesse Ammerman, late of Montour county, Pennsylvania ; Mary, now deceased, who was married to J. C. Patterson, of Danville, Pennsylvania; Amos, who is still living; Harriet, born in 1844, now deceased, who was married to Peter Edmund Rentz, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Eli, of Montour county, Pennsylvania ; Caroline, wife of George Gilmore, of Linden, Pennsylvania; Franklin Pierce, resident of Montour county, Pennsylvania.
Mary (Melick) Appleman, the wife of Baltis Appleman, mentioned above, had the distinction of being born on the Ioth day of February, 178I, at Fort Augusta, Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pennsylva-
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nia. This was during the terrible times of the Wyoming Massacre, and her parents had fled from the Indians for refuge during that ex- citing time. The mother of Mary Melick was Margaret Clingman, of English descent.
ALBERT FREDERICK HARDT, M. D.
The father of Dr. Albert Frederick Hardt, of Williamsport, was Anton Hardt, who was born March 27, 1839, in Vienna, Austria, and when a young man emigrated to the United States. He settled in Will- iamsport, where he engaged in railroad and mining engineering, and was chief engineer in the building of the Fall Brook Railroad, now owned by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. For thirty-two years he was in the service of this company. In 1871 he moved to Wellsborough, Tioga county, Pennsylvania, where he is now superintendent of the Water Company and has other interests. He has been prospecting for several coal companies. He was at one time a director in the First National Bank at Wellsborough, and is now a director of the Pine Creek Railroad, owned by the Vanderbilts.
Mr. Hardt has been twice married. His first wife, to whom he was united while living in Williamsport, was Alvina, born December 5, 1842, daughter of Augustus Koch, Sr., and sister of August Koch, Jr,, a brewer of South Williamsport, and their children were: I. Alice, died in infancy. 2. Wilhelmina, wife of George D. Mitchell, of Washington, District of Columbia. 3. Edmund, who is assistant superintendent at the salt works in Watkins, New York. 4. William, resides in Harris- burg, Pennsylvania, and is civil engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. 5. Anna, wife of Charles H. Seaton, of Glencarlin, Virginia. 6. Albert Frederick, mentioned at length hereinafter. The mother of these children died September 3, 1890, at the age of forty-seven, and
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Mr. Hardt subsequently married Florence Thurber, who died January 14, 1903.
Albert Frederick Hardt, son of Anton and Alvina (Koch) Hardt, was born October 24, 1879, in Wellsborough, Tioga county, Pennsyl- vania, and received his preparatory education in the common and high schools of his native place. In 1898 he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating therefrom in 1902 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the spring of 1905 he took a post-graduate course at the New York Polyclinic. In 1902 he settled in Williamsport, where for one year he was resident physician at the Williamsport Hospital, and in 1903 opened an office at No. 35 West Fourth street. He is a specialist in electro-therapeutics and X-ray therapy. He holds the position of medical referee for the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, having been fitted for the work by a course of special instruction at the home office. His district comprises thirteen counties, and he is also examiner for the Manhattan Life Insur- ance Company of New York.
Dr. Hardt is a member of the Lycoming County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and the American Medical Associa- tion. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church.
THE HILL FAMILY.
Jacob R. Hill was born in Hughesville, Lycoming county, Pennsyl- vania, January 4, 1832, son of Martin and Mary (Dougherty) Hill, also natives of Lycoming county. Martin Hill was a shoemaker and farmer, and he was a son of Frederick Hill, who was a Revolutionary soldier, and also served in the war of 1812. He was prominent in the early military affairs of Lycoming county.
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Jacob R. Hill was reared in Hughesville and learned the cabinet- maker's trade, which he has since followed. In 1864 he enlisted in Com- pany F, Fifty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment, serving until the end of the rebellion. He was twice married, first to Janella Kahler, who bore him four children: Spencer W., of Williamsport; Llewellyn K., of Egg Harbor City, New Jersey; Norman P .; and Hester C., wife of Joseph W. Shea, of Picture Rocks, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Hill died in 1868 and subsequently he married Almira Renn, who became the mother of four children: Arthur E., Edwin E., Jacob Willer, and Hattie. Politically Mr. Hill is a Republican, and has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since early boyhood. He still resides at Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Spencer Hill, a real estate dealer of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, was born in Hughesville, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, August 28, 1856, the son of Jacob R. and Mary (Dougherty) Hill. He was educated in the public schools and at the Muncy Normal School, afterward spending some time in Dickinson Seminary and the State Normal School at Mil- lersville. He then began teaching school, following that vocation for thirteen years. He was principal of the Hughesville schools for five years and taught in the Muncy Normal for two years. Subsequently he took a course in the Williamsport Commercial College, after which he located in the last named place and was manager of the implement busi- ness of J. H. Mutchler. Later he was corresponding clerk in the office of H. B. Silsby, state agent for the Manufacturers' Accident Indemnity Company, of Geneva, New York, and in 1886 embarked in real estate and insurance business. In January, 1891, he associated himself with T. B. Byers, under the firm name of Hill & Byers, as the leading insur- ance firm of the city. Mr. Hill is an ardent Republican. For many
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years he was a member of the school board from the first ward of Will- iamsport, being its secretary in 1889.
He was married in 1879, to Bella, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Will- iam F. Mecum, of Hughesville. By this union the following named children were born: Victoria M., Jennie Belle, Raymond S. and Harry D. Mr. Hill is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternities, also of the Sons of Veterans.
WALDO W. HULL, M. D.
Among those successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in the city of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is Dr. Waldo W. Hull. His parents are Dr. William R. and J. M. (Willard) Hull, and his grandparents on the paternal side were David and Emily J. (Ritten- house) Hull, natives of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania.
Dr. William R. Hull (father) was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, February 17, 1838. When an infant of eight weeks old his parents removed to New Jersey, remaining there for eight years, and then returning to Northumberland county. His education was acquired in the common schools adjacent to his home, and at Tuscarora Academy, in Juniata county, Pennsylvania. He began the preparation for his chosen profession of medicine and surgery with Dr. Samuel Pollock, of Williamsport, and later entered the University of Pennsylvania, in Phila- delphia, graduating from the medical department thereof in 1858. He commenced the practice of his profession at Hepburnville, Lycoming county, and continued there up to 1862, when he was appointed surgeon of the One Hundred and Seventy-first Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served until his regiment was mustered out in October, 1863. Previous to this he was in the surgeon general's office in Harrisburg. Upon his
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return to his home in Hepburnville, Dr. Hull resumed the practice of his profession, but two years later took up his residence in Newberry, where he established an office and practiced medicine until 1868, when he located in Williamsport, where he has since continued in active prac- tice. He has kept in close touch with the advanced thought along the line of his profession by membership in the State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, also the Lycoming County Medical Society, of which he was one of the organizers, and in which he has served in the capacity of president, secretary, treasurer, and a member of the board of censors. He was largely instrumental in the establish- ment of the Williamsport Hospital, was one of the charter members, and was appointed a member of the board of directors, therein rendering faithful and efficient service. He is an adherent of the principles of Republicanism, but takes no active part in political matters.
Dr. William R. Hull was married in 1860, to Miss J. M. Willard, a native of Tioga county, Pennsylvania. Their children are: David Frampton, manager of the Mahaffey Kindling Wood Factory; Waldo W., a practicing physician; and Clara J. Dr. Hull and his family are attendants of Trinity Protestant Episcopal church.
CHARLES W. HEINEY.
Charles W. Heiney, a prominent lawyer of Williamsport, Pennsyl- vania, was born March 24, 1881, at Montgomery, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. He came to Montoursville in 1883 and was a graduate of the high school of that place in the class of 1897. He then attended the Normal School at Muncy, Pennsylvania, for two years, preparing for a teacher. He taught at Fairfield Center and decided to study law with Otto G. Culp at Williamsport. Subsequently he entered the law depart- ment of the Indiana University, graduating from that excellent insti- tution in 1891, and the following year was admitted to the bar at Will-
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iamsport. He has since then been actively engaged in the practice of his chosen profession.
Being an up-to-date man and possessing a social nature, he is found a member of the Odd Fellows order and also of the Junior Order United American Mechanics. In his religious belief he is associated with the Lutheran church. Politically he is a supporter of the Republican party.
June 24, 1904, he married Mabel Fullmer, daughter of Peter and Sarah Fullmer, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
It may be stated that Mr. Heiney's mother is an own cousin of Governor Frederick Hartranft, and on his father's side he is a descend- ant of Heiney, the poet of Germany.
CHARLES H. BATES.
Myron S. (7), Linus (6), Charles (5), John (4), John (3), John (2), James (I).
Charles H. Bates, president of the United States Machine Com- pany, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is, according to the most authentic records obtainable, a descendant in the eighth generation of James Bates (I), who arrived from England at Boston in the ship "Elizabeth," Will- iam Stagg. master, in 1635, and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
The Bateses were numerous in England prior to the beginning of emigration to America, and the results of researches relative to the an- cestry of the above-mentioned James are as follows: Thomas Bates, of Lydd, parish of All Hallows, County of Kent, died in 1485, had a son John, who died at Lydd, in 1522, leaving a son, Andrew Bates, whose death also occurred at Lydd, in 1533. Andrew had a son John, who died in 1589. The latter's son, James Bates, whose death appears in the Lydd records as having occurred in 1614, had children, at least two of whom, James and Clement, emigrated to New England in 1635. Ed-
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ward Bates, who was formerly believed by genealogists to have been a brother of James and Clement, came with them, some claim, while others assert that Clement was among the passengers in the ship "Planter," which arrived in Boston at about the same time as the "Eliza- beth." That Edward Bates, who settled in Weymouth, Massachusetts, was a brother of James and Clement is now generally discredited by genealogists. Clement Bates settled in Hingham, Massachusetts, and to both he and Edward may be traced the origin of a numerous progeny.
With James (I) Bates, who died at the age of fifty-three years, came his wife Alice, aged fifty-two, and four of his children: Lydia. aged twenty ; Maria, aged seventeen ; Margaret, aged twelve; and James, aged nine years. But all of his children did not come with him in the "Elizabeth," as in his will he names a "son Richard of Lid town in Kent, England." Savage, who is considered one of the best authorities in all matters relative to early New England families, says that James (2) Bates, son of James (I), of Dorchester, made one or two visits to England, and that he was afterward of Haddam, Connecticut.
Field's "History of Haddam" says that John Bates came to Had- dam some eight or nine years after its settlement. According to Savage. this John Bates was perhaps a brother of James, of the same place, and was of Stamford in 1669. The children of Clement and Edward Bates have all been accounted for, and, none of them having settled in Con- necticut, Savage reasons that James and John, of Haddam, were the sons of James (I) Bates, the Dorchester settler.
John (2) Bates had sons : John, baptized in 1678; and Solomon, baptized in 1680, at Stamford.
John (3) Bates, who held the rank of lieutenant in the militia, was married, according to the records of Stamford, to Sarah Sellick, Sep-
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tember I, 1718, in Bedford, Connecticut. Sarah died February 21, 1720, or 1721, and he married for his second wife Mrs. Hannah Mead.
John (4) Bates, son of Lieutenant John (3) and Sarah (Sellick) Bates, was born in Stamford, June 24, 1719. Huntington's "Families of Stamford" states that John (4) Bates married Martha -- the omission of the family name of his wife and the date of the marriage may be attributed to the careless manner in which the early vital records of Connecticut were kept. A careful examination of the records, how- ever, leads to the belief that Martha's maiden name was Seeley. Their children were: Sellick, born January 12, 1745; Nathan, born Novem- ber 7. 1747; and Sarah, born May 20, 1750 (old style) ; Charles, born August 13. 1752: John, born September 6, 1755; Azariah, born January 21, 1758; Elisha, born July 10, 1760; and Seely, born February 6, 1763 (new style).
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