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 64

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Publisher: W. Taylor
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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 64
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 64


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JAMES K. FOREMAN, farmer and stock-dealer, Carlisle, is a native of Cumberland County, Penn., born in Southampton Township January 29, 1837, a son of Jacob W. and Catherine A. (Bughman) Foreman. Jacob W. was born and reared in Maryland, a son of Peter and Catherine (Heck) Foreman, who, too, were natives of Maryland, and all of whom settled in Southampton Township. Cumberland County. about the year 1829. Mrs. Jacob W. Foreman was a daughter of Henry and Catherine (Russell) Bughman, her father being one of the first Methodists in Southampton Township, and who assisted in organizing the first Methodist Episcopal Church in that section. He was of German parentage, and a na- tive of Lancaster County. His wife. a native of Ireland, came to Cumberland County when a girl, with her brother, John Russell, and her sisters Polly and Martha. Jacob W. Foreman and wife had uine children: Catherine (deceased), married Benjamin Baxter; George Keyner, a farmer of Southampton Township: James Kelso; Rachael, wife of Ja- cob 1I. Rebuck; Samuel (deceased); Joseph W., who resides on the old homestead; Mar- tha (deceased wife of Henry Hoch); Isabelle, wife of Calvin B. Little, stock-dealer in Southampton Township; Corilla, wife of Hiram Highlands, forwarding merchant and farm- er of Leesburg. Our subject learned the carpenter's trade with his father, which he fol- lowed, contracting and building until 1870, when he was elected sheriff of Cumberland County, and moved to Carlisle. He performed the duties of his office three years, since which time he has been engaged in farming and dealing in stock. July 29, 1858, he was married to Miss Margaret Atherton, a native of Shippensburg, and daughter of Henry and Mary (Culp) Atherton, and granddaughter of Jacob Culp, and to them have been born eight children: Lilly, Nannie J., wife of Harry Spangler, an engineer in the United States Navy; Jacob H., a clerk in the Farmers Bank of Carlisle; Kattie, wife of Harry Hertz- ler, a liveryman of Carlisle; Vermont, M. Blanch, Frank (Miss) and Malon Sydney. Mr. Foreman is one of the representative citizens of Cumberland County, with whose inter- ests he has been identified a lifetime.


FRANKLIN GARDNER, proprietor of the Letort Axle Works, Carlisle, was born in York County, Penn., December 11, 1820, a son of Martin and Mary (Thomas) Gardner, both of worthy German ancestry of York County. At the age of twenty Franklin came here, where he learned the business with which he has since been very worthily connect- ed. He married, here, Sarah Jane, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Hager) Abrahims, who came from Lancaster County here, the union being blessed with five sons and five daugh- ters: Carrie is the widow of William Maize, Esq., and has two sons and two daughters; Annie is the wife of H. L. Bowman, of Philadelphia, aud has one son; Edward J. is su- perintendent of the Carlisle Manufacturing Company: Alice is the wife of Jacob R. Bee- tem, of Columbia, Penn .; John H. is associated in business with his father, and has a daughter; Laura, the youngest, is at home. They have buried William, Martin M., Sal- lie and Charles. Mr. Gardner has been a worthy member of the First Lutheran Church for over thirty-five years, and is at present a member of its vestry. He is an Odd Fellow. in good standing; is a member of the board of directors of the Gas & Water Company, of Carlisle, as also of the Carlisle Manufacturing Company. He has always led an honora- ble life in his business, and has the pleasure of seeing his children worthy members of so- ciety and well associated in business.


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GEORGE GIBSON, third son of Chief Justice Gibson, of Pennsylvania, and grand- son of Col. George Gibson, of Revolutionary fame, who was killed at St. Clair's defeat, was born at Carlisle, Penn., April 4, 1826, and received his education at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penn. April, 1853, saw him appointed a military storekeeper in the Quarter- master Department of the Army, which position he retained until May, 1867, rendering service in the Quartermaster General's office at Washington, also at Albuquerque, New Mexico, Schuylkill Arsenal, Philadelphia, when he was appointed a captain in the Eleventh Regular Infantry, and assigned temporarily to duty in Washington as approving officer of requisitions made upon the clothing, camp and garrison equipage by the troops congre- gated about that city. June, 1863, saw him serving with his regiment in the field (Army of the Potomac), being shortly afterward assigned to duty with Gen. Sykes as commissary


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of musters and inspector-general of the Fifth Corps. He also served as acting assistant inspector general of the provisional brigade at Gen. Meade's headquarters, rejoining his regiment at Richmond at the conclusion of the war, upon its being assigned to the duty of garrisoning that city. Here he was placed in charge of all matters pertaining to the colored people of that city and the adjoining county of Henrico, and shortly afterward was made acting assistant inspector-general of the Department of Virginia, under Gen. Terry, and of the First Military District of Richmond. Va., under Gen. Schofield. While serving in the latter capacity he was temporarily placed in command of the sub district of Ft. Monroe, comprising that post, as well as Norfolk, Camp Hamilton and Yorktown. January, 1868, he was promoted major of the First Infantry, and placed on duty, by orders of the Secretary of War, in the War Department, as recorder of a board of claims. June, 1869, saw him assigned to the Fifth Infantry and command of Ft. Hays, Kas., being shortly afterward placed on duty at Ft. Leavenworth, under Gen. Pope, as acting assistant inspector-general, Department of the Missouri. From this place he was transferred, by orders of the War Department, to Memphis, Tenn., as a disbursing officer, under direction of the adjutant-general of the army, where he continued until July, 1876, when he was placed in command of the cantonment on Tongue River, M. T. (afterward known as Ft. Keogh), where he remained up until the time of his promotion as lieutenant-colonel of the Third Infantry ( March 20, 1879), when he was assigned to the command of Ft. Missoula, M. T. Here he remained until his final promotion to the coloneley of his old regiment, the Fifth Infantry, at Ft. Keogh, August 1, 1886, at which place he is now serving.


ROBERT GIVIN (deceased), late banker and manufacturer of Carlisle, was a native of Cumberland County, born at Carlisle June 11, 1810, son of James and Amelia (Steele) Givin, former a native of Coleraine, Ireland, and the latter of Cumberland County, Penn, James Given was for many years a dry goods merchant of Carlisle. Our subject received his ed- ucation in his native village, and Jannary 13, 1841, was married to Miss Sarah H. Gibson, at Romney, W. Va .. the place of her birth. Her parents were David and Eliza (Armstrong) Gibson, natives, he of Winchester, W. Va., and she of the vicinity of Romney, W. Va. David Gibson was a merchant and farmer. After the marriage of our subject and wife they moved to Mount Holly Springs, in Cumberland Co., Penn., where Mr. Givin, with others, had established the Mount Holly Paper Mills, of which company he was president from its organization until his death, which occurred February 9, 1879, at Car- fisle, to which point he had previously removed. At the organization of the Farmers Bank, Mr. Givin became its president, and remained as such until his death. The chil- dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Givin were David Gibson Givin, who died when a young man; James (deceased); Samuel G. (deceased), who married Miss Ella Mark; Robert H., and Amelia S., who resides with her mother. Mr. Givin was an active, energetic business man and citizen, always taking special interest in anything that promised progress to his coun- ty. He was a man of the highest honor, enjoying the confidence and respect of all. As a friend, neighbor and citizen he possessed all the noblest qualities. His widow lives in her elegant residence in the Farmers Bank building. She and her daughter are members of the Second Presbyterian Church.


BENJAMIN K. GOODYEAR, deputy clerk and recorder, Carlisle, is a native of Cumberland County, born in Shippensburg December 25. 1836, a son of David and Anna (Kepower) Goodyear, both natives of South Middleton Township, Cumberland County; former a pump manufacturer, who, in 1840, moved to Adams County, where he opened a hotel at Graeffenburg Springs. They had nine children: Mary A., wife of Oliver P. Mel- horn, an engineer, killed at Middletown by an explosion in tube works; Regina C., mar- ried to G. E. W. Sharretts, a clerk in the treasury department at Washington, D. C., since 1856; Benjamin K .; Naoma J., married Joseph S. Ewry, a business man of Lafayette, Ind .; Corella E., widow of Jacob Weigle, who was a blacksmith and machinist; Cordelia R, wife of William Wormley, a merchant of Lafayette. Ind .; Eliza, deceased; Hadessa, wife of William Barber, a farmer near Martinsburg, W. Va .; Henrietta F., unmarried. and residing at Shippensburg. Benjamin K., until sixteen years of age, attended school in Adams County and in the city of Lancaster; then spent two years in the preparatory department of Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster. He then began the study of law in the office of Stumbaugh & Carlisle, at Chambersburg, and was there admitted to the bar in 1861. That same year he went to Carlisle, was admitted to the courts of the county in November, and continued practice until August, 1862, when he enlisted as a pri- vate in Company A. One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry; was wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg. Va., December 13, 1862, by a gunshot in the right shoulder, which caused a compound fracture of the clavicle. Ile was sent to Point Lookout Hospital, Maryland, where he remained three weeks, and was two months at Stanton Hospital, Washington, D. C. In April, 1863, he was mustered out of the service and returned to Cumberland County, where he engaged in teaching school until the spring of 1864. He then assisted in raising Company G of the Two Hundred and Second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, in which he enlisted in August, 1864 (refusing to accept a commission), and remained in the service until the close of the war. After that he was for a time engaged in teaching school at Shippensburg, and for three


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years acted as agent for the Adams Express Company at that place; then came to Carlisle, and was appoint .d deputy sheriff under James K. Foreman, serving as such until 1874. In that year he moved to Pine Grove Furnace. and took charge of the company's store for the South Mountain Iron Company, where he remained until the works closed in Novem- ber of that year; then located in Shippensburg, and, in connection with his brother-in- law, Samuel R. Murray, established the Democratic Chronicle, which they conducted until 1878. when Mr. Goodyear purchased his partner's interest. and some two months later dis- posed of the paper to Alonzo P. Orr. From January 1. 1877. until January 1, 1880, Mr. Good- year acted as deputy to D H. Gill, then sheriff of the county; at the expiration of which time he took charge of the Antietam Iron Works near Sharpsburg. Md , serving in that capacity until April 1, 1884. He next took charge of the Codorous Flint Mill. in York County, until September 15, 1884, when the property changed hands, and he returned to Carlisle. January 5, 1835, he was appointed depnty clerk and recorder under John Zinn, which position he still holds. December 24, 1868, Mr. Goodyear was married to Cecelia F Steinman, of Shippensburg, a native of that place, and a daughter of Adolphus Stein- man. The children of our subject and wife are William A., Anna M. and Oro B. Mr. Goodyear is a member of Cumberland Lodge, No. 90. I. O. () F., of Shippensburg, and a member of Capt. Colwell Post. No. 201. G. A. R. Mrs. Goodyear is a member of the G rman Reformed Church of Shippensburg. Our subject never identified himself with any Church


HON. WILLIAM RITTENHOUSE GORGAS, now of Harrisburg. is a native of Cumberland County, born on the homestead in Lower Allen Township, May 8, 1806, a son of Hon. Solomon Gorgas, a native of Ephratah. Lancaster Co., Penn .. born January 23, 1764, the eldest of three sons and one daughter, viz .: Solomon, Jacob, Joseph, and Marin, who married Hon. Charles Gleim,of Lebanon County, Penn. The father of Hon. Solomon Gorgas was Jacob Gorgas, a native of Germantown, Philadelphia Co., Penn., whose father. John Gorgas. emigrated from Holland about the year 1700, and located at Germantown. John Gorgas was naturalized by an act of the Legislature in about 1708 or 1709 Jacob when a young man located at Ephratah, where he married a Miss Mack, and to them were born the four children named above. He was a clock-maker and farmer. Solomon, his eldest son, who, too, was a watch and clock-maker, wis married to Miss Cith rine Fahnestock, a native of Chester County, Penn., and to them were born four sons and three daughters: Daniel F., born September 30, 1792, died January 17, 1848; Christina, born July 27, 1794, died September 21, 1804; Mary, born July 7. 1797. married to Peter Bernhart, and died June 17, 1875: Sally, born January 19, 1800, married to Sam- uel Bowman, and died in August. 1878; William R .; Joseph M., born June 13 1809, and died May 13. 1852: and Solomon Perry, born August 31. 1815. now a resident of Mechan- icsburg. The father, in 1804, removed to Cumberland County, locating in Lower Allen Township, and kept the first tavern and store in that section of the country. He was a man of sound judgment, and was practical, being self-made and self-educated. In 1821- 23 he served as a member of the Legislature from Cumberland County, being a Democrat in politics. His death occurred September 21, 1838, and that of his widow August 9, 1853. Both were identified with the German Seventh-day Baptist Church. Our subject grew up on a farm and worked with his father until the latter's death, obtaining such schooling as the neighborhood afforded. when he took charge of the farm. Beginning with the year 1836, he was three successive times elected a Democratic member of the Legislature from Cumberland County, being a member during the celebrated " Buck-shot war." In 1842 he was elected a member of the State Senate, and served for a period of three years, after which he returned to his farm. Mr. Gorgas was one of the original members and directors of the Merkel. Mumma & Co. Bank. which became a State Bank, and finally the present First National Bank of Mechanicsburg, of which he is still a director. Since 1845 he has been a director of the Harrisburg National Bank, and of the Harrisburg Bridge, Company. He is a director of the Harrisburg Market Company and the City Railway Company, and president of the Harrisburg Burial Case Company; and also presi- dent of the Allen and East Pennsborough Fire Insurance Company. In 1877 Mr. Gorgas moved to llarrisburg, and in 1882 he received the Democratic nomination, bv his party in that city. as their representative to the State Legislature, and, notwithstanding the city was Republican by a majority of 500, he was only defeated by eighty-eight votes. March 5. 1840, Mr. Gorgas was married to Miss Elizabeth Hummel, of Harrisburg, a native of that city, and a daughter of David and Susan (Kunkel) IIummel, and to this union have been born eight children: David II .. who died at the age of sixteen years; Kate F., unmar- ried: Su-an K., who died at the age of five years; William L., now a clerk in the Harris burg National Bank: Mary E .. unmarried: Solomon R .a physician and surgeon, who gradu- ated at Jefferson1 Medical College, and was resident physician at the Philadelphia Hospi- tal eighteen months; Elizabath E., who died at the age of nine years; and George, a drug- gist, of Harrisburg, and a graduate of the College of Pharmacy, Philadelphia.


JAMES HUTCHINSON GRAIIAM, LL.D. The subject of this sketch was of Scotch-Irish descent. He was born September 10, 1807. on the paternal domain granted his great-grandfather Jared Graham, by Thomas and Richard Penn, in 1734. James Gra-


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ham. the grandfather of James II., built the log house on the site of which the latter was born, and which was used as a r fuge against the Indians by the carly settlers. James Grahim had five sous: Jared. Thomas, Arthur, Isaiah (the father of James H.) And James. Isaiah Graham was a man of very strong mind. a lading politician of the State, and for many years a ruling elder in Big Spring Church. Ile was elected to the Senate in Isti.and re-elected. He was app ainted associate judge by Gov. Findlay in 1817, and filled the position unul his death in 1835. James Hutchinson Graham received his preparatory training for college at Gettysburg Academy under Dr. MeConaughy. en- tered Dickinson College as a member of the junior class and graduated with honor in 1837. He studied law with Andrew Carothers, Esq., then the leader of the Cirli-le bar, and was admitted to practice in November, 1820. He was a careful and laborious stud :nt, patient and painstaking in his investigation of questions, and he soon acquired a large and lucrative practice. In 1833 he was appointed deputy attorney-general for Cumberland County a position he tilled for six years, declining a reappointment. In 1850 he was elected, on the Democratic ticket. president judge of the Ninth Judicial District composed of the counties of Cumberland, Perry and Juanita. and re-elected for a second term in 1860 llis service on the bench during a period of great political excitement marked him as one of the foremost jurists of his State. In 1818 Dickinson College conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws, and he was chosen professor of law in that institution, a position he occupied at his death in 1832. Judge Graham was a very useful man in the community in which he lived. He was one of the earliest members of the Second Presbyterian Church of Carlisle, and was for many years president of its board of trustees. He was a director and president of the Carlisle Deposit Bink until his elevation to the bench, and filled many trusts with scrupolous fid lity and honor. The high esterm in which he was held by the bar is well expressed in the resolution presented by Hon. Lemuel Todd at the meeting of the bar on the occasion of his death: "That the purity and consistency of his life in all its relations, his firm and conscientious performance of all personal. pro- fessional and judicial obligations, and his modest and unpretentious conduct and deport- ment were so marked and real as to challenge and possess the respect and esteem of the bar and all who were associated with him." Judge Graham left a large family to sur- vive him, among whom are Lieut. Samuel L. Grabam, United States Navy, Frank Gordon Graham of the Kansas City Times, and Duncan M. Graham, Esq., of the Car- lisle bar.


MARTIN GUSWILER. Carlisle, collector of internal revenue for the Ninth District, Pennsylvania (residence Mechanicsburg), is a native of Cumberland County, born in Mechanic-burg, December 31, 1846. a descendant of two of the oldest families of Cumber- land County, and of the State. His great-grandfather, John Guswiler, immigrated to America from Germany at an early day nud settled at Shireman-town, and his son, John, a farmer, was born in Cumberland County; married a Miss Rupp, and settled near Shire- man-town. He bad two sons, John and Martin, the latter of whom was a physician and married Miss Mary Eberly, to whom was born one son, Van, who married a daughter of Judge Fisher, of York County. John Guswiler, father of the subject of our sketch, was a coach-builder in Mechanicsburg, and established the present coach and carriage works of George Schroeder & Sons, of that place. His death occurred in California, in 1849 or 1850, winle prospecting. Ilis wife was Miss Elizabeth Singiser. of Mechanicsburg, daugh- ter of George and Mary ( Halbert) Singiser. To them were born three sons, two of whom died young. After the death of Mr. Gnswiler, the widow married Maj. Samuel B. King, of Mechanicsburg, late of the firm of Miller & King, manufacturers of sashes and doors. Our subject, who was about five years of age at the time of his father's death, was schooled In the place of his nativity, graduating at the high school when nineteen, and soon there- after was engaged in a cigar manufactory in the same place, which claimed his attention until 1863. In that year he enlisted as a private in Company D. One Hundred and Twen- tieth Regiment Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Capt. Singiser. He was made sergeant of the company, and served with the command until the expiration of his term of service in 1864. when he returned to Mechanicsburg and resumed his former business, which he fol- lowed until 1826, when he was elected register of deeds by the people of Cumberland County, carrying his town by over a hundred majority, notwithstanding he was a Demo- erat. This position be retained three years and returned to Mechanicsburg, where he was ,engaged in the wholesale tobacco business until January, 1883, when he became deputy sheriff of Cumberland County. under George B. Eyster, and served as such until July 4, 1885, when he was appointed collector of internal revenue for the Ninth District of Pean- sylvania, which position he still retains. Mr. Guswil r was three successive times elected to the office of chief burgess of Mechanicsburg, notwithstanding the fact that it is Repub- lican; he also held the offices of councilman and ju lge of elections. His marriage with Miss Eliza M. Allen took place al Mechanicsburg, in November, 1865. She was a native of Newberry, York County a daughter of Michael and Margaret (Eply) Allen, natives of York County, and residents of Mechaniesburg (the father a retired shoe manufacturer). To our subject and wife five sons have been born: George M .. John. Martin. Jr., Frank B. and Mervin. Mr. Guswiler is an active and energetic business man, and has the conti-


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dence and respect of the community at large. He has been a member of the Democratic standing committee of Mechanicburg since 1866, and was in 1879 and 1883 sent as a dele- gate to the State convention.


JOHN HAYS, president of the Carlisle Deposit Bank, and a prominent and successful member of the bar, is a descendant of the llays and Blaine families, two of the oldest and most prominent in the State. His paternal great-grandfather, Adam Hays, was a descend- ant of a Holland family, who immigrated to America at an early day, and who became members of the Swedish settlement at New Castle on the Delaware. Adam Hays was born at New Castle, and immigrated to Cumberland County, Penn .. and settled on the north bank of the Conodoguinet Creek, in Frankford Township, in 1730. His sons, Adam and Joseph (the latter the grandfather of our subject), were born in Cumberland County. Joseph married and had three sons: Adam, John and Joseph. John was born in August, 1794; was a farmer in early life. and at thirty years of age engaged in the iron trade. He married twice: first, Miss Jane Pattieson, of Cumberland County. They had one daughter, Annie E. (She also married twice; her first husband was Lieut. Richard West, a nephew of United States Judge Taney; her second husband was Lieut .- Col. J. W. T. Garder.) Mrs. Jane (Pattieson) Hays died in 1822 or 1823, and Mr. Hays married Mrs. Eleanor B. Wheaton, a daughter of Robert Blaine. She was a grand-daughter of Col. Ephraim Blaine, of Cumberland County, who was born in Ireland, and came with his parents to Cumber- land County in 1745, when he was but a year old. Col. Ephraim Blaine was a prominent man and served his county and country. He was a friend and confidant of Washington, and was sheriff of Cumberland County in 1771, and during the Revolution was deputy commissary-general with the rank of colonel. Mr. and Mrs. John Hays were members of the Presbyterian Church. He died April 29, 1854, and she January 9, 1839. They had two sons and one daughter: Robert Blaine Hays, Mary Wheaton Hays ( who married Richard O. Mullikin, of Baltimore), and John Hays, the subject of our sketch. The last named graduated from old Dickinson College in the class of 1857, and that year entered the law office of Hon. R. M. Henderson, and was admitted to the bar of Cumberland County in August, 1859. In 1862 Mr. Hays entered Company A. One Hundred and Thir- tieth Volunteer Infantry; was promoted first lieutenant, then adjutant of the regiment, and then adjutant-general of a brigade. He was mustered out May 1, 1863. He was wounded in the right shoulder at Chancellorsville by a musket ball, and had seven other balls that ent his clothing and killed his horse under him. He was in the battles of An- tietam and Fredericksburg. The Second Corps, of which his regiment was a part. lost 5,500 men at Antietam. The entire regiment was commanded by the gallant Col. H. 1. Zinn, as the regiment was not organized at the time and had no field or staff officers. At Fred- ericksburg Col. Zinn lost his life. After his regiment was mustered out. Mr. Hays re- turned to Carlisle and formed his present partnership with his preceptor, Hon. R. M. Hen- derson. Mr. Hays married Miss Jane Van Ness Smead. August 8, 1865. She was born in the city of New York, a daughter of Capt. R. C. Smead and Sarah (Radcliffe) Smead. Her father was a graduate of West Point, and captain in the Mexican war. He died of yellow fever while on his way home at the close of the war. Capt. John R. Smead, broth- er to Mrs. Hays, was in command of a battery in the battle of the second Bull Run, where he was killed Our subject and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church at Carlisle, and have two sons and three daughters: Anna A., Elizabeth S., George M., Raphael S. and Eleanor B. Mr. Hays is a prominent and successful business man. He is a Republican, and was a delegate to the National Convention in 1880. He was one of the original trus- tees and mainly instrumental in the management of the building of the Metzgar Institute of Carlisle, of which his uncle, George Metzgar, was the founder. Mr. Hays is a member of the board of directors of the Carlisle Gas & Water Company; vice-president and chair- man of the executive committee for the Carlisle Manufacturing Company.




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