History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc, Part 150

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USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 150
USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > History of Cumberland and Adams counties, Pennsylvania. Containing history of the counties, their townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc.; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 150

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MAJ. CALVIN GILBERT, of the firm of Gilbert & Smith, Gettysburg, was born in that place April 8, 1839, a son of Daniel and Ammy (Rice) Gilbert, former a native of Adams County, Penn., of English and German descent; latter a native of Frederick County, Md. The father was a coach-maker by trade and carried on the business at Gettysburg for thirty years previous to the war. Of their eleven children eight are yet living, the Major being the second. Our subject grew to manhood in his native town. received the benefit of a public school education and learned the coach-maker's trade with his father. At the outbreak of the war in 1861 he enlisted as a private in Company F, Eighty-seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Subsequently was transferred to the regimental band. After a service of one year, regimental bands being dispensed with, he returned to his company and served with same until November 21, 1863, when, by special order of the war department, he was mustered out of the service on account of having been a member of the regimental band. He then entered the com- missary department as a clerk in the office of the commissary general at Washington. D. C., and in March, 1863, was commissioned captain and commissary subsistance of volun- teers, serving as such until 1865, when he was promoted to the rank of major for meritori- ous service, in which capacity he served until October 26, 1865. His service being no longer required he was honorably mustered out. Maj. Gilbert then located at Chambers- burg, Penn., and embarked in mercantile trade, continuing in same until 1868, when he commenced the manufacturing business in the same place, which he carried on until 1885, when he returned to his native town and engaged in his present business of general foundry and machine work. Maj. Gilbert is a public-spirited man, a Republican in poli- tics, and while he lived in Chambersburg was always foremost in all public improvements;

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for eighteen years he was an active member of the school board, having served both as secretary and treasurer of the board; he also took an active interest in the agricultural atfairs of the county, being the representative of Franklin County in the State board of agriculture, and for fifteen years secretary of the county agricultural society. lle is at present a member of the school board of Gettysburg and a member of the town council and chief of the fire department of the borough. He has frequently been a member of · the district Republican conventions and also a representative to the State conventions. Ile is a member of the order of Red Men, of the K. of P., the 1. O. O. F., and is a Royal Arch Mason. March 12. 1862. he was married to Lavina L. Rex, whose parents were natives of this county, of German descent. To our subject and wife have been horn five children, all yet living. Maj. Gilbert and his wife are both members of the Lutheran Church.

CALVIN HAMILTON, principal of the public schools, Gettysburg, was born near that place November 29, 1841. a son of William and Evaline (Bayly) Hamilton. His pa- ternal and maternal ancestors were among the early Scotch settlers of the State, the Ham- iltons having resided in Adams County since 1765, and were among the first merchants in the county. His great-grandfather enlisted in the Revolutionary war from Adams County, and served under Gen. Washington. William Hamilton was at one time clerk of the courts of Adams County. Our subject is one of eight children, six of whom are now living. Ile grew to manhood in his native town, whose graded schools he attended, and for a time was a student at Pennsylvania College, which he left in 1862, before gradua- tion, and enlisted in Company K of the Pennsylvania Reserves; was wounded at the bat- tle of Gettysburg. in 1863, while defending his native town. On recovering from his wound he was mustered into and served in the Veteran Reserve Corps until the close of the war. On retiring to civil life he attended for a time the State Normal School, then located at Newville: subsequently he went to Illinois, and was there engaged in teaching for six years, when he retured to Pennsylvania, and for three years taught school at New Oxford. Since 1879 Prof. Hamilton has been a teacher in the schools of Gettysburg. In 1883 he was married to Miss Anna K. Hanaway, daughter of Ephraim Hanaway, of Eng- lish descent. In politics the Professor is a Republican, and is now serving his fourth term as assistant burgess of Gettysburg. Both are identified with the Presbyterian Church, in which he has been an elder and a teacher in the Sabbathi-school. He is a mem- ber of the G. A. R.

P. D. W. HANKEY, farmer, Gettysburg, was born in Frederick County, Md., Ang- ust 11, 1830, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Schriver) Hankey, natives of Baltimore County, MId., and of German descent, their ancestors some way back being among the early Ger- man families of this State. Isaac Hankey, grandfather of our subject, was a wheel- wright, and his maternal grandfather, Philip Schriver, a farmer by occupation, served as a soldier in the war of 1812. Jacob Hankey, also a farmer, was the father of eight children, seven of whom grew to maturity. P. D. W. is the eldest child, and his boyhood was spent in the rural districts, where he attended school and assisted his parents on the farm. Sub- sequently he entered Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, where he graduated in the class of 1853. The same year he accepted a position as principal of Mount Pleasant Seminary, Berks County, Penn., which position he held eight years He had a taste for literary pur- suits, but on account of failing health he was compelled to give up, in the main, the profession of teaching, which he did very reluctantly, and at the advice of his physician he engaged in farming. thought be taught a portion of the time. In all he taught probably some sev- enteen years, a portion of which time he served as superintendent of schools of Adams County, in connection with superintending his farm, which consists of 254 acres of well- improved land. Mr. Hankey for a period furnished supplies for schoolhouses and dealt in school furniture. In 1886 he sold off his stock and farming utensils, and moved to Gettys- burg, to engage in the machine business. In 1875 he was married to Anna E. Hartman, a daughter of Henry Hartman, of German descent, and to them have been born two children: John Bright, named after the great English statesman, and Norma Grace. The parents are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Hankey is a Republican in politics and has served as school director. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

REV. CHARLES A. IIAY, D. D., (elected 1865,) professor of Hebrew and Old Testa- ment Exegesis, German language and literature and pastoral theology, in the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, is a native of York County, Penn., horn at York, February 11. 1821, a son of John and Eliza (Ebert) Hay, the former of whom was a merchant and died at the age of twenty-eight years, having served in the war of 1812. John llay, the great-grandfather of the Doctor, emigrated from Germany and located in York County, Penn., in pioneer times of the State. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Dr. Hay was the younger of his sons, and was but a babe at the time of his father's death. The broth- er died young, and the mother lived to be sixty-three years old, hut never married again. Charles A. was prepared for college in the German Reformed High School, at York, and by Dr. Morris, at Baltimore, and at the age of fifteen he entered the sophomore class in Pennsylvania College, graduating from that institution in 1839. After bis graduation he pursued his theological studies at Gettysburg, Penn., and in the universities of Berlin and

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Halle, Germany, and after receiving a license to preach he became pastor of a church at Middletown, Md., in 1844. From 1844 to 1848 he was professor of German in his alma mater and of Hebrew in the theological seminary. The following year, 1849, he was pastor of churches at Hanover and Littlestown, Penn., and from 1849 to 1865 sustained a similar relation with the First Church, at Harrisburg, Penn. In connection with his present posi- tion in the faculty, he has, since 1866, been pastor of Christ Church at Gettysburg. He has been a trustee of Pennsylvania College since 1852; was president of the General Synod in 1881. He received the degree of D. D. from his alma mater in 1859, and from 1867 to 1880 served as secretary of that institution. He married, May 5, 1845, Miss Rebecca Barnitz, daughter of Hou. Charles A. Barnitz, at one time a member of Congress from York County District. Mrs. Hay's grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution. Dr. Hay's children are Frauces E., wife of Rev. M. L. Heisler: John W., a physician of Harrisburg; Charles E., a Lutheran minister; Mary J., wife of Prof Himes, of Pennsylvania College; and Edward G., a Lutheran minister at Pottsville, Penn.

J. L. HILL, M. D., dentist, Gettysburg, was born iu Fairfield, Adams Co., Penn., October 31, 1820, a son of James and Rebecca (Foster) Hill. His paternal and maternal aucestors were among the early English and Scotch-Irish settlers of Pennsylvania, having settled here prior to the Revolutionary war. James Hill was a tauner, an occupation he followed for many years in this county, though the latter part of his life was passed in Ohio. He was twice married, the Doctor being by the first marriage. Our subject's mother died when he was quite young, and he was reared among strangers until fifteen years of age, when he began to learn the tanner's trade with his father. Not liking the business he learned the jeweler's trade, and worked at manufacturing clocks and repairing watches both in Ohio and Pennsylvania. While engaged at this occupation he studied dentistry, and while practicing dentistry read medicine, and subsequently entered the Penn- sylvania Medical College at Philadelphia, where he graduated with the degree of M. D., in 1846, aud the same year commeneed the practice of dentistry at Gettysburg, which he has eoutinued to the present time. Iu 1847, Dr. Hill was married to Sarah M., daughter of William Witherow, and to this union have been born the following named: William Foster, a civil engineer, now of Albuquerque, N. M .; John L., a lawyer and justice of the peace, in Gettysburg; Harry H., a clerk, iu Gettysburg; Mary Louise; Elizabeth T. and .James M., a dentist, in Gettysburg. Mrs. Hill is a member of the Presbyterian Church. In polities Dr. Ifill is a Republican. He is a member of Good Samaritan Lodge, A. Y. Masous; also of the I. O. O. F., both of the subordinate and encampment lodges, and is a member of the Order of Red Men.

W. D. HOLTZWORTH, Battlefield Guide, Gettysburg, is a native of that place, born January 9, 1843, a son of Adam and Mary (Culp) Holtzworth, whose ancestors were among the early German settlers of Peuusylvania. Adam Holtzworth was a blacksmith by trade, which he carried on at Gettysburg for years. Our subject, the second of three born to his parents, was reared at Gettysburg, and there attended the public schools. On the breaking out of the war, in 1861, young Holtzworth left the trade he was learning, that of a granite cutter, and enlisted in the Second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, for three mouths, serving as corporal. After the expiration of his term of service he re-enlisted, this time in the Eighty-seveuth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, for three years, and was wounded at the battle of Winchester, Va., June 15, 1863. He was made a prisoner of war, was confined in Libby and Belle Isle, where he was "cooped up" for six weeks; then was exchanged. In 1864 he veterauized or re-enlisted in the same regiment, and was duty sergeant. He was wounded at the battle of the Weldon Railroad, having been shot through the left shoulder, which disabled him from active duty, but he re- mained with the regiment, aud was given charge of the regiment letters. He was present at the surrender of Gen. Lee, aud was mustered out of service May 12, 1865. In 1866 Mr. Holtzworth was elected register and recorder of Adams County ou the Democratie ticket, and administered iu that office until 1869. Since the latter year he has been employed as the guide to the battlefield of Gettysburg, and is, perhaps, as well posted concerning the great battle as any man now living. Mr. Holtzworth possesses a half-interest in a livery stable at Gettysburg, and has driven most of the generals who took part in the battle over the field while visiting the same. In 1885 and 1886 he traveled and delivered lectures in Ohio and Pennsylvania. In 1867 he was married to Evaline Lindsay, of Franklin County, and of German descent. Their four children now liviug are Charles, an assistant in the postoffice at Gettysburg; Mary; Ilarry and Alfred. The parents attend the Luth- eran Church. Mr. Holtzworth is a member of. the G. A. R., and has been commander of the post at Gettysburg. He is a director of the Gettysburg Battlefield Association, and a member of the school board of Gettysburg. He is both a Mason and an Odd Fellow.

DAVID HORNER. M. D., was born in Gettysburg, Adams County, Peun., November 10, 1797. He was the son of Robert and the grandson of David Horner, who immigrated to this country from Ireland prior to the year 1760. Dr. David Horner received his class- ical education in the Latin school of Gettysburg, which was taught by Samuel Ramsey. He read medicine in the office of Dr. James H. Miller, a cultivated and eminent physician of his day, and who subsequently became professor of the theory and practice of medicine

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in the Washington Medical College, at Baltimore, Md. From this institution Dr. Horner received his degree of M. D. As a physician he was faithful in the performance of his duty and was very snecessful. On the 24th of December, 1822, he was united in marriage with Miss Agnes Brown Allen, of Savannah, Ga., by the Rev. David MeConanghy. In polities the Doctor was a firm Whig and a decided anti-slavery man. In 1824 he was elected coroner of the county, to serve three years, and in 1842 was elected the second time to the same office. In 1844 he was nominated as a Whig candidate for Congress in this district, then com- posed of the counties of York and Adams. In this contest he was defeated by his Demo- cratic opponent, Moses MeClean, Esq., of Gettysburg, the latter having received a majority of 872 in York, and the former a Whig majority of 711 in Adams County. The Doctor was elected in 1856 one of the associate judges of Adams County, a position he honorably and acceptably filled for two years. On the 9th of February, 1858, he died in his sixty-first year, mourned and honored in the community in which he had lived for more than half a century. His remains were interred in Evergreen Cemetery. Ile left three children- two sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Charles Horner, M. D., and the youngest, Robert Horner, M. D., are still living, and both are practicing medicine in Gettysburg. their native town. Mary Agnes Horner married the Rev. John K. Plitt, a Lutheran min- ister, and at the present time resides in Philadelphia.

DAVID KENDLEHART, retired merehant, Gettysburg. It is the purpose of this personal sketeb to note the prominent characteristics of the individual to whom reference is made, and to hand down to posterity and to the future one who stands prominent as a citizen of Adams County and as a representative man. To describe the character of the individual whose name heads this sketch the first impress is set forth briefly in three words, to-wit: An honest man. He was born December 30, 1813, in Gettysburg, to John L. and Elizabeth (Flentgen) Kendlehart, natives of Germany, from whence come those eiti- zens to whom the United States is as much indebted for her most industrious, substantial, wealthy and intelligent elements as toany other nationality on the globe. The father was : shoemaker by trade, and settled in Baltimore, Md., in 1804, and between 1806 and 1810 removed to Gettysburg where he spent the remainder of his days in honest toil, for the support of his six children, of whom David is the fourth. Ile, at the early age of twelve years, was apprenticed to the shoe maker's trade, and has continued the same even to the present, and in connection with this he carried on a general boot and shoe store, giving his personal attention to manufacture and sale, for a period of over forty years. He found time, how- ever, to attend to some of the city affairs, where his work required no pay. He was pres- ident of the city council when Gen. Early, the Confederate commander, June 26, 1863, made a requisition to the borough authorities for 60 barrels of flour, 7,000 pounds of pork or bacon, 1,200 pounds of sugar, 600 pounds of coffee, 1.000 pounds of salt, 40 bushels of onions. 1,000 pairs of shoes, 500 hats, or $5,000 in money. This was the first sight of an army that had come to destroy and subdue, and no one but those who were here enjoying the fruits of their hard Inhors, can express the prevalent feeling when asked to surrender their own to the wouldt-he destroyers of our Government; indeed, it must have looked like im- mediate suicide to refuse such a hostile, hungry army, but Mr. Kendlehart, in the absence of the burgess, responded as follows:

GEN. EARLY.

GETTYSBURG, June 26, 1863.

Sir :- The authorities of the borough of Gettysburg, in aoswer to the deruand made upon the same borough and county by you, say their authority exteuds hut to the borough; that the requisition asked for can not be given, because it is utterly impossible to comply. The quantities required are far beyond that in our possession. In compliance, however, to the demand, we will request the stores to be opened and the citl- zens to furnish whatever they can of such provisions, etc., as may be asked. Further we can not promise. By authority of the council of the buronghi of Gettysburg, I hereunto, as president uf said hoard, attach my name.

D). KENDLEHART.

Early in the morning of July 4, 1863, in company with George Arnold, Esq., of Gettys- burg, and his two sons, he succeeded with great difficulty in getting through the Union lines, and reaching the headquarters of Gen. Meade, giving him the first information he had of the rebel retreat. Our subject has served his native city as burgess in a creditable manner. He naturally followed his father's political proclivities, that of a Democrat, but was strongly in sympathy with the abolitionists, and was out-spoken against the cause of slavery. During the operations of the fugitive slave law, Mr. Kendlehart was in front of his residence one morning, when a man by the name of Hartman drove up, and inquired for a justice of the peace. Mr. Kendlehart directed him to the office of D. A. Buchler, and while the stranger was performing his business there, our subjeet learned of the colored woman who was in custody of Mr. Hartman, that she and her husband were fugitives and were being taken baek to their owner; that her husband had jumped from the vehicle a short distance from Gettysburg, pursued by a constable. Mr. Kendlehart insisted on her escape during her captor's temporary absence, which she did, and on Hartman's return to the buggy, he was wrongly informed of the whereabouts of the poor colored woman by Mr. Kendlehart, who had wanted her to make good her escape. It was subsequently learned that she met her husband a few days later, and they finally broke their chain of slavery. In 1841, Mr. Kendlehart was married to Eliza, a daughter of James Bowen, and has a family of five children: Mary C., Sarah L., Margaretta B. (the wife of William P.

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MeCartney); John L. (an attorney in Philadelphia), and J. William (a clerk in the Gettys- burg National Bank). Mr. Kendlehart is a member of the l. O. O. F. By hard labor, strict economy and frugality he has placed himself in his declining years in affluent eir- cumstances, thus enabling him to live a somewhat retired life.

J. J. KERR, retired farmer, Gettysburg, was born in Highland Township, Adams Co., Penn., August 12, 1809, a son of John and Jane (Ilart) Kerr, natives of Pennsylva- nia, and of Scotch-Irish descent. J. J. Kerr now owns the farm where his grandfather, George Kerr, was born, and holds the original deed given by William Penn to one of his ancestors, which land, has, by will, since been in the family, transferred from one gener- ation to another, all having been farmers by occupation. John Kerr, died in 1837, the father of five children, of whom J. J. is the youngest. The education of our subject was confined to the schools of the neighborhood, and he grew up among agricultural pur- suits, following farming until 1879, when, after having accumulated a comfortable com- peteney, he retired and moved to Gettysburg. Ife was married to Anna, daughter of Robert McClure, of Scotch-Irish descent, and to this union have been born four children. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr are members of the Presbyterian Church, of which he has been elder. In politics Mr. Kerr is a Republican.

REV. MOSES KIEFFER, D. D., retired minister, Gettysburg, was born in Franklin County, Penn., May 5, 1814, the seventh son of Christian and Mary (Poorman) Kieffer, natives of the same county. The ancestors of our subject, on both sides, were among the early German settlers of Pennsylvania and the male members of the family were mostly tillers of the soil. Our subject is a cousin to the Rev. Ephraim Kieffer, who is widely known through Pennsylvania, and of Dr. Kieffer, a prominent physician of Car- lisle, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Dr. Kieffer grew to manhood in Franklin County, and in 1838 was graduated from what is now Franklin and Marshall College, receiving the highest honors of his class. On completing his college education he entered the theological department of that institution, where he remained two years, and at the same time was employed as tutor in his alma mater, teaching one hour per day. His first pastoral charge was at the Water Street Church in Huntingdon, Penn., accepting the call to that church in 1840, and serving the charge four years. He then accepted a call at Hagerstown. Md., where he was minister in charge seven years. From Hagers- town he went to Reading, Penn., and was there actively engaged in the ministerial work for five years. In 1855 he was elected president of Heidelberg College, at Tiffin, Ohio, over which he presided nearly thirteen years, and of which he was the second president. When he took charge the college was in its infancy, and heing anxious that it should suc- ceed the Doctor really performed the work of two men, doing all he possibly could for the prosperity of the institution, and in his efforts overtaxed his strength, which com- pelled him to resign his position. Following this the Doctor was supply preacher at San- dusky City, Ohio, for one year and a half. He then returned to Franklin County, Penn., locating at Greencastle, where he was minister in charge of a church until 1874. That year he came to Gettysburg, where he was pastor in charge ten years, and where he is now living a retired life. During the late war, when the rebels burned Chambersburg, Penn., Dr. Kieffer was publisher of the Quarterly Review and other publications of his church, and the publishing house and office were, with the buildings, destroyed, and with them the manuscript of a work he had ready for publication. Ilis contributions to the reli- gious press have been many. In politics he is a Republican, and in religion a Catholic, hut not a Roman.

WILLIAM THOMAS KING, merchant tailor, Gettysburg, was born in Champaigu County, Ohio, August 11, 1829, the only son of John and Violet King (the Kings not re- lated before marriage). The former was a native of Ireland and latter of Pennsylvania, both being of Scotch-Irish origin, and strict Presbyterians. John King was one of three children brought to America by their parents, and in early and middle life was engaged in teaching school, but for some years previous to his death was a farmer. In 1830 he was accidentally killed by the running off of his team while hauling logs to aid his brother in the construction of a cabin on the frontiers of western Ohio. Three years after this the widow removed to Adams County, Penn., where she had relatives, lo- cating in Straban Township. Our subject, then about four years old, was sent to the district school of the locality, at which he received the only schooling he got. When thirteen years of age his mother chose for him the tailoring trade and placed him in a shop as an apprentice, a proceeding he seriously objected to then, but has never had cause to regret since. He served an apprenticeship of six years; then traveled three years, work- ing as a journeyman. In April, 1852, he embarked in the tailoring business at Gettysburg for himself, which he has since carried on, and at which he has gained the reputation of being a correct entter and a fine workman, and to-day stands second to no other in the same line in his county. Starting business thirty-four years ago with small capital and limited resources he has, by good management and close application to business, together with the ability to please the public, built up a fine trade, and has been successful. Mr. King is an upright, honorable dealer, and a courteous, genial man. May 18, 1852, he was married to Miss Sarah B. Barrett, of Gettysburg, Penn., a lady of intelligence and refinement,

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Author: Publication date: Publisher: W. Taylor Number of Pages: 1280

Author:
Publication date:
Publisher: W. Taylor
Number of Pages: 1280