USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Genealogical and personal history of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Volume II > Part 38
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is a Republican. He attends Trinity ( Protestant Episcopal) Church, of which his wife is a member.
Mr. Myers married Susan Amelia Painter, born in Muncy, Lyco- ming county, Pennsylvania, daughter of the Hon. William P. I. Painter. Mr. and Mrs. Myers are without children.
WILLIAM P. I. PAINTER.
William P. I. Painter, deceased, was one of the men whose enter- prise and public spirit always placed him on the side of progress and re- form, and for nearly half a century he watched the growth and devel- opment of the West Branch valley, during which time he gained the esteem and confidence of the residents of Muncy, of which town he was one of the pioneers.
The branch of the Painter family of which he was a representative was founded in this country by two brothers, one of whom was his great-grandfather, who emigrated from Germany prior to the revolu- tionary war. John Painter, his grandfather, served in that memorable struggle for independence. He married Catharine Taggart, of North- umberland, Pennsylvania, and settled in Chillisquaque township, North-' umberland county, where Thomas Painter, father of William P. I. Painter. was born and reared. After reaching his majority, Thomas Painter went to the town of Northumberland, and clerked in a store for several years. He was sheriff of the county in 1812-15, and served in the legislature in 1822-23. In 1827 he purchased the Columbia County Register and removed to Bloomsburg, and there conducted the paper until 1843. He also served as a justice of the peace in Blooms- burg for about forty years. Mr. Painter married in 1811, Susan Israel, a daughter of General Joseph Israel, of New Castle, Delaware, a veteran
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of the revolution. Sixteen children were born of this union, seven of whom attained years of maturity. Thomas Painter died at Muncy, February, 1862; he survived his wife many years, she passing away in July, 1845.
William P. I. Painter was born in Sunbury, Northumberland coun- ty, Pennsylvania, August 21, 1818. He attended the common schools until he was thirteen years old, and then entered his father's printing office, and learned the art of type-setting. He remained in the office of the Register about five years, and then went to Pottsville, Pennsyl- vania, where he followed his trade. At the age of twenty he joined his brother in the publication of the Mauch Chunk Courier, at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, with which he was connected until February, 1841. The following month he and his brother, George L. I. Painter, came to Muncy and established the Muncy Luminary, with which he was associated about five years, when he sold his interest to his brother and embarked in the drug business. He conducted a drug store in Muncy up to July, 1891, a period of forty-five years, and then turned over the business to his sons. He served as a justice of the peace fourteen years, represented Lycoming county in the legislature in 1869, and received a re-nomination for this office, but declined the honor. In 1871 he was elected associate judge, and served on the bench five years. While occupying this position he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1876, but gave very little attention to the practice of this pro- fession. Judge Painter was a Whig and Republican in his political affil- iations. He was an honored member of the Masonic fraternity.
Judge Painter was married July 21, 1841, to Sabina Mensch, of Columbia county, Pennsylvania, who bore him the following named children : Joseph I., deceased; Mary M., widow of Harry S. Fessler ; Thomas; Sarah B., wife of William H. Everett; Susan A., wife of
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Michael Myers; William C .; George L .; Laura W., deceased; and Albra W., deceased. The family belong to the Protestant Episcopal church. After a long and useful life, in which he performed his duties faithfully and efficiently, Judge Painter died September 12, 1895, at Muncy.
WILLIAM HENRY BLOOM.
William Henry Bloom, secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Williamsport Water Company, is one of the prominent business men of Williamsport. The family originally came from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania. The earliest record that we have of any mem- ber of the Bloom family is of Henry Bloom, who lived in Selinsgrove, Snyder county, was of German origin, and married Sarah Hass.
John Bloom, son of Henry and Sarah (Hass) Bloom, was born at Selinsgrove, Snyder county, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1833, and died June 10, 1895. He received his education in the common schools of Snyder county, and when still quite a young man went to Harrisburg and sought and found employment there. His first position was with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and he served this company as a locomotive engineer for over thirty years. His first run was between Harrisburg and Lancaster, and he remained in this section for five
years. During this period the Pennsylvania Railroad Company built the Sunbury and Williamsport branch, and after it was completed they determined to put a few of their most capable and reliable men in charge of the engines on this division. These men had the entire responsibility of caring for the engines in their charge, as there were no shops at either Sunbury or Williamsport. Mr. Bloom was one of the first engineers so selected, and in 1856 he moved with his family to Williamsport, and was given charge of a passenger engine. At that time there were no
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tracks laid between Sunbury and Harrisburg, and all freight, etc., was transported on the canal. In 1861, Mr. Bloom bought some ground and built a brick house on Ross street; later he sold this house, and having bought a lot at the corner of Ross and Mulberry streets, he there erected the residence in which he dwelt until the time of his de- mise, with the exception of a few years which he spent in Kansas.
During the Civil war Mr. Bloom enlisted as a railroad engineer, and in the service of the government had charge of the train running between Washington, District of Columbia, and Alexandria, Virginia. Later he was sent to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was in governmental service altogether for two years. At the end of this time he returned to Williamsport. He resumed his work with the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company. and continued with them until a few years prior to his death. Mr. Bloom was a regular attendant at the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he inclined to the Republican party. Mr. Bloom married, August 8, 1851, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Miss Susan E. Stormfeltz, who was born September 3, 1827, at Lancaster, daughter of Peter and Susan (Stitz) Stormfeltz. Mr. and Mrs. Bloom were the parents of two children : William Henry, born October 21, 1852; and John P., born March 10, 1857, died November 9, 1865. Mr. Bloom and this one son are buried in the Washington Street cemetery, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
William Henry Bloom, oldest son and only surviving child of the late John and Susan E. (Stormfeltz) Bloom, was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, October 21, 1852. He was educated in the public schools of Williamsport, at the Dickinson Seminary, and later at the Com- mercial College. He was an earnest student and a bright and promis- ing scholar, and graduated from the latter institution of learning with credit to himself and his instructors. In 1874 he accepted a position as
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bookkeeper in the office of Brown, Early and Company, lumber mer- chants, taking entire charge of their books until the firm was dissolved in 1888. During the period of time he was connected with Brown, Early and Company, he audited the accounts of the Williamsport Water Company. In 1878 he was elected secretary of this company, a position which he still holds. Upon the death of Mr. J. V. Brown it became known that Mr. Bloom had been named as one of the executors of Mr. Brown's . will. Mr. Bloom has a great deal of executive ability, both natural and acquired, and is exceedingly accurate and painstaking in his attention to details, thus making his business career the success it has been. He is popular socially. His political affiliations are Republican, and though he has never held office, he is a stanch adherent to his party. Mr. Bloom now resides at 635 Mulberry street, a dwelling which he had erected in 1884. Mr. Bloom is a member of all the Masonic bodies in Williamsport except the Council, having joined the Williamsport Lodge, No. 106, Free and Accepted Masons, July 1, 1878, and being a past master of that lodge; a charter member of the Consistory; past com- mander of Baldwin II, No. 22; member of Lulu Temple, No. 525, Shrine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Bloom is a member of the Ross Club of Williamsport, also Howard Club, Knights Templar, of Williamsport.
Mr. Bloom married Mary Alice Gibson and is the father of four children : Lillian M., who married William Flock; Sarah Bell, who married George P. Nice, of Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania; Tacy Marie, married Hugh M. Sherwood, of Portland, Oregon, and has one child, Andrew William; William J., who died in infancy.
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ANDREW W. SIEGEL.
Andrew Wesley Siegel, actively and prominently identified with many of the leading enterprises of Williamsport, also an active factor in political circles, is a native of Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, born at Salladasburg, March 20, 1869, son of John G. and Mary A. (Kiess) Siegel, and grandson of Andrew and Christine (Newbold) Siegel.
Andrew Siegel was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, who came to the United States in July, 1854. He settled in Philadelphia, where he worked at his trade, that of a blacksmith, for six months. He then removed to Burlington county, New Jersey, where he farmed for two years, after which he located in Mifflin township. Lycoming county, where he purchased sixteen acres of land, built a shop, and engaged in the blacksmith business. There he resided until his death in June, 1887. Mr. Siegel was a Democrat, and a member of the Lutheran church. He married Christine Newbold, of Wurtemberg, and to them were born the following children: I, John C., referred to hereinafter; 2, Christian ; 3, William; 4, Abraham, deceased; 5. Conrad, deceased, who served in the Civil war; 6, Solomon, born December 22, 1846. Septem- ber 1, 1864, he enlisted in Company C, Ninety-seventh Regiment Penn- sylvania Volunteers, and saw service until the close of the war; he mar- ried Rachel Losch, and to this union have been born eight children : Olive, Maggie, Chrissy. Kate, John, Charles, May and Rachel, de- ceased : 7, George ; 8, Frederick, deceased, also served in the Civil war ; 9. Andrew, deceased; 10, Catharine, deceased.
John G. Siegel ( father) was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, July 8, 1832, and was there reared and educated. In 1854, after attaining young manhood. he left his native land to seek for himself a new home amid new surroundings in the United States, locating in the city of
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he secured employment at the trade of shoe making, which he had learned in Germany. In 1856 he took up his residence in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and worked at his trade until 1861, when he enlisted in Company E, Fourth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, participating in the marches and battles in which his regiment was engaged, the principal engagements having been the seven days' battles before Richmond, and the second battle of Bull Run. Owing to disability he was discharged from the service of the United States government in 1863. Upon his return to civil life Mr. Siegel located at Salladasburg, Lycoming county, and engaged in merchandising in connection with shoemaking, which he followed in the above mentioned village for a period of eleven years. In 1879 he purchased his present farm of sixty acres, on which he established a distillery which he conducted successfully for a number of years, finally disposing of the same to his sons. Mr. Siegel has taken an active part in the public affairs of the township, filling acceptably the offices of jury commissioner, auditor, assessor, constable and school director. In early manhood he gave his allegiance to the Republican party, but subse- quently joined the Democratic forces, and has since remained stead- fast to the principles espoused by them. He is a member of the Lutheran church.
John G. Siegel married, June 16, 1865, in Lock Haven, Pennsyl- vania, Mary A. Kiess, born in Anthony township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, May 28, 1843, daughter of Leonard and Elizabeth Kiess, the former named, after his emigration from Germany, having settled in Anthony township, where he followed farming and carpentering. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. E. Groth. The issue of this union was as follows: Jennie M., born September 9, 1867, married J. E. Dorey, of Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, no issue; Andrew W., born
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March 20, 1869, referred to hereinafter; Frederick E., born August 29, 1871, married Hattie Myers and they are the parents of one son. Ernest ; Frederick E. Siegel, a member of the Siegel Distilling Company; John H., born March 18, 1875, a member of the Siegel Distilling Company ; Margaret E., born February 14, 1878, married Charles J. Levegood, of Jersey Shore, issue, one son, William; Samuel D., born August 17, 1880, resides on the homestead ; he married Louise Tepel and their child died in infancy ; Thomas, died in early life: Clara also died in early life.
Andrew W. Siegel attended the common schools of Lycoming county and subsequently pursued a course of higher study in the Will- iamsport Commercial College. When ten years of age his parents moved to Mifflin township, locating on a farm, and until 1887 young Andrew assisted with the work thereon, and also was employed in the lumber woods. In the latter year he learned the trade of distiller with his father, and later assumed charge of the business for him, continu- ing so engaged until February, 1893, when he enlisted in Battery I, Fourth Regiment United States Artillery, as a private. After serving three months in this capacity he was promoted to the rank of corporal, and five months later to that of sergeant, and served as such until 1895, at which time he was stationed in Washington, D. C. Previous to this he was stationed at New York, and at Fortress Monroe, Virginia.
He returned to his home in April. 1895, and later accepted a posi- tion in the office of the prothonotary in Lycoming county, under John E. Hopkins. In 1896 C. B. Vandine was elected to the office, and Mr. Siegel served him as entry clerk and deputy until January 1, 1899, when Samuel S. Jarrett succeeded Mr. Vandine, and Mr. Siegel was retained in his employ, serving for three years. In the fall of 1901 Mr. Siegel was a candidate for the office of prothonotary on the Democratic ticket,
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but was defeated by the combined Republican and Prohibition vote. Mr. Siegel devised and had patented a system of indexing for public records, and for six months (during the fall and winter of 1901-02) was engaged in indexing the judgment records in the prothonotary's office in Lycoming county. The system was then adopted by Clear- field county, and for two years thereafter Mr. Siegel was employed at indexing there, and is still actively engaged in that line of work, the system having been universally adopted in Lycoming, Clearfield, Jeffer- son, Lackawanna and Allegheny counties. In the summer of 1904 Mr. Siegel was nominated on the Democratic ticket for the office of protho- notary, was elected by a majority of over nine hundred. took the oath of office the first Monday in January, 1905, and is now conscientiously and efficiently performing the duties pertaining thereto.
Mr. Siegel became a resident of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1895. and two years later formed a partnership with his brothers- Frederick E. and John H .- and engaged in the wholesale liquor busi- ness at Nos. 317-319 Market street. under the style of Siegel Brothers. On September 1, 1905, they formed a copartnership under the style of the Siegel Distilling Company, and purchased the entire plant and stock owned by their father, John G. Siegel, at Salladasburg, Pennsylvania. They rebuilt the plant, greatly increasing its capacity in order to meet the larger demands of their business, and at the present time ( 1905) are engaged exclusively in distilling rye whisky. Mr. Siegel is a stock- holder in the Sylvandell Park Association, and the Salladasburg Tele- phone Company, leading enterprises of this section of the state. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Williams- port ; Turn Verein, of Williamsport; Keystone League; W. S. Han- cock Camp, No. 49, Sons of Veterans; Young Men's Democratic Club, of which he is vice-president and one of the directors; and the Dun-
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woody Fish and Gun Club, and the Big Bear Creek Fish and Gun Club. He is interested in the Larrys Creek game reservation, of five thousand acres, and is the owner of a cabin in the mountains which he uses during the hunting and fishing seasons.
On June 22, 1898, by the Rev. David Keppel, of Elmira, New York, Mr. Siegel was united in marriage to Anna Mayer, born at Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, March 5, 1876, daughter of the late Andrew Mayer and his wife, Rica (Neiding) Mayer, and two children were the issue, as follows: Evelyn Marie, born at Williamsport, August 3, 1901, and Thomas Hammond, born at Williamsport, March 16, 1904. Andrew Mayer and his wife, parents of Mrs. Siegel, were natives of Germany. Their family consisted of eight children, namely: Jacob, Mary, Eliza- beth, Amelia, Anna (Mrs. Andrew W. Siegel), Margaret, Caroline, and Minnie, all of whom are living at the present time. Andrew Mayer was a stone mason by trade and assisted in the construction of the county jail. Later he engaged in the hotel business in Williamsport, subse- quently purchased a farm in White Deer Valley, to which he removed, and finally resided on Ross street, Williamsport. Mr. and Mrs. Siegel are members of the German Lutheran church.
THOMAS JOSEPH GILMORE, M. D.
The subject of this sketch is now well advanced on the road to pro- fessional success, having already created a large and remunerative prac- tice, and he has also acquired widespread popularity as an able and con- scientious public official.
Thomas Joseph Gilmore, M. D., was born in Williamsport, Sep- tember 15, 1875, and is of sturdy Scotch-Irish descent, his parents, Thomas Joseph, Sr., and Elizabeth (O'Conner) Gilmore, being natives
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of Ireland, his father of county Roscommon and his mother of county Cork. His grandfather was William Gilmore, and his Scotch descent is from his great-grandfather, James Gilmore, who, in company with two of his brothers migrated from Glasgow to county Tyrone, Ireland, during the eighteenth century. James resided in Ireland for the re- mainder of his life, but his two brothers emigrated to America, and both served as soldiers in the war of 1812-15. Dr. Gilmore's mother was born in 1839, daughter of Daniel and Margaret O'Conner, who were industrious farming people of county Cork. Her father died when she was eight years old, and while still a child she was brought to the United States by her mother, who spent the rest of her life in Williamsport.
Thomas Joseph Gilmore, Sr., was born in 1833. In his youth he entered the service of a botanist, but a desire for more independent sur- roundings where opportunities for advancement were unrestricted, spir- ited him away from the land of his birth, and in August, 1852, he emi- grated to this country, locating first in New York state. Two years later he came to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he obtained em- ployment of Henry Smith, who was then sawing timber for the first railroad bridge over the Susquehanna, and he was subsequently employed at what was then known as the Big Water Mill. He finally entered the service of Fletcher Coleman, with whom he remained continuously for over forty-one years, thirty-six years of which he acted as night watch- man at his employer's extensive establishment. His reliability and faith- fulness as an employe were equalled by his economy and thrift, and, by carefully saving the surplus of his earnings, he has through judicious management amassed a comfortable fortune, owning besides his residence on Vine street, which he erected in 1887, a large business block on West Fourth street, and other valuable real estate in Williamsport. Mr. Gil- more has served as tax collector for a period of seventeen years. He
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joined the Church of the Annunciation in 1860, is also a member of the Father Matthew Temperance Society, and contributes liberally toward the support of religious work.
Mr. Gilmore's marriage took place August 18, 1860, and he has had a family of five children, namely: William, who was born Decem- ber 27. 1862, died December 3. 1863; Margaret, born April 19, 1866, deceased ; James, born February 14, 1865, deceased; Nellie, born Octo- ber 19. 1879; and Thomas Joseph, M. D., the principal subject of this sketch.
After concluding his primary studies in the parochial and public schools of Williamsport, Thomas Joseph Gilmore, Jr., prepared for a business career by pursuing a commercial course at the Williamsport Business College, at the completion of which he entered a hardware store as a clerk. A year later he took up the study of telegraphy, which he followed some eighteen months, and subsequently for a period of two years he was employed at Coleman's sawmill. He next entered the drug business as a clerk and continued in that capacity for four years, at the expiration of which time he decided to prepare himself for the medical profession. His preliminary medical studies were directed by D. W. Spence, M. D., of Williamsport, and after graduating from the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1900, he became resident physician at St. Joseph's Hospital, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, remaining in that capac- ity one year. For the past four years he has practiced medicine in his native city, and his professional success has equalled, if not exceeded, his anticipations. He is a member of the dispensary staff of the Williams- port Hospital, and visiting physician to the Home for the Friendless.
For the past two years Dr. Gilmore has served with marked effi- ciency as coroner of Lycoming county. He affiliates with the Lycoming County and the Pennsylvania State medical societies, the American Med-
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ical Association, the Knights of Columbus, the Ancient Order of Hi- bernians and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He attends the Church of the Annunciation.
HILL.
It is a family legend that the ancestors of the Hills were originally Scotch; that by reason of religious persecution in the reign of James II they fled to Switzerland, and after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes were expelled from Switzerland, along with the Swiss and French Hu- guenots, and sought refuge in the Palatinate in Germany. In the early years of the eighteenth century there was a large and continuous immi- gration of German Palatines into Pennsylvania.
Jacob Hill arrived at Philadelphia about the year 1720, with others then known and classed as Palatines. He settled as a farmer in the Maxatawney Valley, near the location of the present site of Kutztown, in Berks county, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was one of the founders of the Moselem Lutheran church, still in existence in Richmond township, Berks county. He had three sons, John Jacob Hill, Daniel Hill and Frederick Hill; also several daughters.
Daniel Hill, the second son of Jacob Hill, was born in Maxatawney Valley in 1728. After reaching manhood he took up his residence at the place known as Windsor Castle, in Windsor township, Berks county. He resided there as a farmer until about the year 1783, having reared a family of thirteen children. His wife having died, he married again, and removed to Westmoreland county, about fifteen miles from the pres- ent site of Greensburg, having born to him a second family of twelve children, making twenty-five in all. He died in the year 1814, aged eight-six years.
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Jacob Hill, the oldest son of Daniel Hill, was born at Windsor Castle, Berks county, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1750. At twenty-five years of age he enlisted, on the first day of February, 1776, in the Fifth Regi- ment of the Continental Line for two years. At the expiration of his term he re-enlisted, and served continuously until the end of the war, amounting to seven years, six months and twenty days. He was present at the capture of the Hessians, wintered at Valley Forge, and partici- pated in many battles. In Volume 14, Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, pages 259, 576, and 289, the name of Jacob Hill appears as cap- tain of the Fifth Company, First Battalion, Berks County Militia, com- manded by Colonel David Hunter, May 17, 1777, and again, same bat- talion and commander, 1778; and again as captain of the Fifth Com- pany, Fifth Battalion, Berks County Militia, commanded by Lieutenant- Colonel John Cuneas, May 10, 1780. On his discharge from the army in 1783 he was married to Christina Gortner, daughter of George Gort- ner, who in 1773 had removed with his family from Windsor township, Berks county, to his farm in Muncy township, Northumberland (now Lycoming) county, on Muncy Creek, about midway between Muncy and Hughesville. On a Sunday morning in the early summer of the year 1778, George Gortner and a visiting friend by the name of Markel were walking through his corn field inspecting the growing crop, when an Indian in ambush along the bank of the creek arose and fired a shot by which Gortner was instantly killed. Jacob Hill after his marriage re- sided at Windsor Castle, Berks county, for nine years, and March 26, 1793, removed to the farm he had purchased near Hughesville, Lyco- ming county. He died January 9, 1824, six days after the death of his wife, Christina. He was a thrifty and successful farmer, and a man of strong moral and religious principles. He was one of the founders and principal supporters of the " Old Brick " Lutheran church, situated mid-
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