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 69

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Publisher: W. Taylor
Number of Pages: 1280

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 69
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 69

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BOROUGHI OF CARLISLE.

judiciary was made elective, he held the office by election until 1857. lle died in 1870. His eldest son, Hugh, was born in the latter part of 1816; was a farmer; a member of the State Legislature during the two sessions of 1857 and 1858; in 1861 was elected associate judge, and hell the office by re-election until 1871. lle died in 1880. Joseph A., the only surviving son, was born in 1826, and still farms in South Middleton Township. this county. lle was married, in 1850, to Mary A. McCune, whose grandfather, of Scotch-Irish parent- age, settled near Shippensburg, on the farm where his descendants still live. Their chil- dren living are John T. and H. S. Stuart.

JOHN T. STUART, prosecuting attorney of Cumberland County, and of the firm of Stuart & Stuart, attorneys at law, Carlisle, was born in South Middleton Township May 23, 1851, son of Joseph A. and Mary A. (MeCune) Stuart, worthy people of a very long line of descent in this locality. Mr. Stuart spent two years in Susquehanna College, and, after a short time at West Nottingham Academy, Md., entered Princeton in 1870, from which institution be was graduated in 1874. lle then entered upon the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1876, and in 1883 was elected to his present incumbency, which he very creditably fills.

REUBEN SWARTZ, the general proprietor of the "Thindium House," Carlisle is a native of Cumberland County, born three miles north of Hogestown, in Silver Spring Township, February 11, 1815, a son of Peter and Catherine (Burtner) Swartz, both na- tives of Silver Spring Township, and descendants of old families of Cumberland County. When nine years old he went to live with his uncle at Bridgeport, this county, and re- mained with him five years. ITe then learned the plasterer's trade at Mechanicsburg, where he remained three years; then went to Canton, Ohio, and worked at his trade two years, when he returned to Pennsylvania and located at Titusville four years. He formed a partnership with Francis Le Rew, and they conducted the " White Hall Hotel," at Harris- burg, Penn. Two years later, Mr. Swartz engaged in buying and selling horses and clerk- ing at the " White Hall Hotel." In the spring of 1878 he came to Carlisle and leased the " Thudium House," which he still conducts. In 1884 he formed a partnership with S. P. Jackson, and dealt in horses and general stock. March 11, 1878, he married Miss Alice Simons. She was born and reared in Landishurg, Perry County, a daughter of George and Catherine J. (Parkinson) Simons. Her father was in the Mexican war as a drummer-boy; also served in the civil war. ITe was a son of George Simons, a soldier in the war of 1812; both were blacksmiths. To Mr. and Mrs. Swartz two sons were born, one living, William L., born March 4, 1879. Mr. Swartz is a member of Cumberland Star Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Carlisle. He keeps a first-class house in every respect, neat and well furnished, and he and wife pay special attention to the comfort of their guests. They are justly popu- lar and have hosts of friends During the civil war, in 1864, Mr. Swartz drove a Govern- ment wagon one year.

FRANK E. THOMPSON, of the firm of Dale & Thompson, grain and coal merchants, Carlisle, was born in that place December 1, 1847, son of Joseph C. and Jane (Smith, Thompson, natives of Carlisle, where they now reside, respected citizens, latter a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Joseph C. Thompson is a printer by trade, having learned the business in the office of the American Volunteer and other papers of Carlisle, and for many years he was foreman in the office of the Volunteer and Carlisle Herald. They had four sons and five daughters, of whom three sons and three daughters are living: Annie, wife of A. J. Ilecker, a carpenter and contractor, of Carlisle; Sallie S., unmarried; Frank E .: Harriet C .; J. Marlin, engaged in the transfer business, in Carlisle; John M., saddler of Carlisle, and Frank E. Our subject was educated at the schools of his native place, and at the age of seventeen years began clerking in a dry goods store for Leidich & Miller, of Carlisle, with whom he remained for a short time. Hle next worked for a brief period at the carpenter's trade, when he went to Harrisburg, where he clerked for three years and later engaged as clerk with G. B. Hoffman, in the grocery business, with whom he remained for a short time, when he was appointed agent at Carlisle for the Adams Express Company, which position he held for five years, when he resigned and bought the interest of Mr. A. Bosler, in the grain and coal house of A. Bosler & Dale, and the firm has since been Dale & Thompson. March 19, 1878, Mr. Thompson married Miss Annie S. Black, who was born in Carlisle, a daughter of Robert M. and Sarah (Barnhardt) Black, natives of Cumberland County, former an architect, contractor and builder, of Carlisle. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have two children: Laura A. and Nellie. Mrs. Thompson is a member of the Reformed Church, and Mr. Thompson is a member of St. John Lodge, No. 260, F. & A. M .. St. John's Chapter, No. 171, R. A. M., K. T., St. John Commandery No. 8; is a member of Carlisle Lodge No. 91, I. O. O. F., and a member of the I. O. H. He is among the enterprising and representative men of Carlisle.

ALEXANDER A. THOMSON, M. D., Carlisle, was born on the old family farm near Scotland, Franklin Co., Penn., February 11, 1841. His great-grandfather emigrated from Scotland to Franklin County, with his family of thirteen children. in 1777, and settled midway between Shippensburg and Chambersburg, at a point now called Scotland, in honor of his native place. His son, John. grandfather of our subject, married Hannah Rea, and six daughters and two sons were born to them: Nancy, married to John' Ren-

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frew; Eliza, married to William Agnew; Margaret, married to a Mr. Lusk; Hannah, married to Robert MeKee; Sarah, married to Adam Brown; Ann, married to Dr. D. S. McGowan; Alexander, married to Margaret Kerr, and Samuel, the youngest, and father of subject, married to Miss Mary Kyner, a daughter of George and Christina (Nye) Kyner. Samnel and Mary (Kyner) Thomson were members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and had nine children, three sons and three daughters living: Elizabeth, wife of John Wilson, a farmer, of Chester County, Penn .; Agnes, wife of George Dice, a grocer, of Shippensburg; John R., a farmer, of Franklin County; Alexander A .; MeLeod W., superintendent of "maintenance of way" on the Pennsylvania Railway, at Altoona, Penn., and Miss Mary A., who resides with Alexander A. When Alexander A. was twelve years old his father moved to Fayetteville and bought an interest in the female seminary and the boys' academy, at Fayetteville, and managed the boarding house for this seminary for four years. Onr snbjeet took a fonr years' course in the latter institution, at the com- pletion of which, in 1857, his father died, and Alexander A, was engaged the following winter in teaching school at Fayetteville, and in the spring began farming with his eldest brother on the old homestead near Seotland. He followed agriculture three years; then began the study of medieine with Drs. Stuart and Howland, of Shippensburg. Eighteen months later he went to Ann Arbor, Mich., and there attended a course of lectures; then read one summer with Dr. A. Harvey Smith, an eminent surgeon of Detroit, Mich. In the fall of 1863 he entered Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, Penn., from which institution he was gradnated in March, 1864, and the same spring located in the practice of medicine at Newburg, Cumberland County. Here he remained in practice several years and then moved to Cumberland, Md., where he, with his brothers, McLeod W., and Will- iam Paxton, built the Cumberland Steel Works, which they operated one year, when the Doctor sold out, and returned to Newburg and formed a partnership with John C. Elliott, under the firm name of Elliott & Thomson, in general merchandising for three years (nntil the fall of 1875). He was then nominated and elected, by the people of Cumberland County, Republican treasurer, which office he held three years, and in the fall of 1879 was elected by the same party sheriff of the county, filling the incumbency three years. In the spring of 1882 he engaged in the eattle business in Wyoming Territory, and the year following formed a partnership with James D. Greason in the same line. Two years later they formed the Carlisle Live stock Company, of Wyoming Territory, of which Dr. Thom- son was choseu president and manager, and he has sinee been engaged in this business. December 15, 1864, Dr. Thomson was married to Miss Susan Rosetta Frazer, a native of near Shippensburg and a daughter of Andrew and Annie (Wilson) Frazer, natives of Dauphin County, and who became a member of Middle Spring Presbyterian Church. Dr. and Mrs. Thomson have two children living: Frank Frazer, now attending Diekinson College, and Nellie E., attending sehool. Mrs. Thomson is a member of the Second Presbyterian Church, of Carlisle. The Doctor ranks among the leading successful bnsi- ness men of Carlisle, and, starting in life dependent on his own resources, he may be said to be a self-made man. As a public offieer and business man, he has always had the eon- fidenee and respeet of all.

JOHN R. TURNER, architect, contractor and builder, Carlisle, has been identified with the place since 1833, and is, perhaps, the oldest in this line at Carlisle. He learned his profession with Jacob Spangler, with whom he served a regular apprenticeship, since which time he has been actively engaged in his business. He was born at Franklin (four miles southwest of Shippensburg) Mareh 6, 1815, a son of David Turner, who was born and reared near Mount Rock, Diekinson Township, this eounty, and of Irish parents, who- settled in Cumberland County, and there died. When a young man David removed to Franklin Connty, where he was married to Miss Rebecca Rudisill, who was born in what is now Adams County, Penn .. a daughter of Baltzer and Elizabeth (Schmidt) Rudisill. Mr. and Mrs. David Turner settled in West Pennsborough Township, Cumberland County, in 1823, and to them were born eleven children: Eliza (unmarried), Mary A. (married to John Cresler, a farmer near Shippensburg), Rebecca (widow of James Davidson, of Peoria, Ill.), John R., Snsan (widow of John Keller), Jane (widow of Joseph Heister Gibson), Sarah (widow of Samuel Corl, of Bedford County), Lydia C. (wife Alphens Hagan, resi- dent of Brandonville, Va.), Margaret (widow of John R. Nateher, a contraetor and builder of Pittsburgh), Caroline (wife of George Sullnff, a contractor and builder of Alle- gheny City), and Agnes (wife of Thompson Walker, a farmer of Cumberland County). The parents were members of the Presbyterian Church. John R. received his schooling mainly in West Pennsborough Township, and in the spring of 1833 went to Carlisle, where, September 6, 1838, he was married to Miss Catherine Halbert, a native of Carlisle, and a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Du Boise) Halbert, former of whom came from Eng- land, and latter a native of Carlisle. The grandfather of Mrs. Elizabeth Halbert (Abra- ham Du Boise) immigrated to Holland, from France, during the French Revolution, and subsequently to America, settling in Montgomery County, Penn. To our subject and wife have been born three daughters: Virginia (wife of William D. Sponsler, a retired merehant of Carlisle), Belle (residing at home), and Kitty (deceased, aged thirty-five, and unmarried). The parents are members of the First Presbyterian Church. Mr. Turner is-

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identified with St. John Lodge, F. & A. M., Carlisle, and the I. O. O. F., Carlisle Lodge, No. 91. He has been the architect and builder of many of the buildings in Carlisle and elsewhere; was the architect and builder of the court house, Cumberland County, Stevens' Hall, Gettysburg; architect for the Farmers High School Building, near Bellefonte. Penn. (now the Pennsylvania Farm School), architect of the market house in Carlisle, and was also architect and superintendent of the court house of Clarion County. Penn., and now, August, 1886, is engaged in superintending a first dwelling for H. Gould Beetem, having furnished the plans and specifications. Mr. Turner has long been one of the city's active and enterprising business men.

REV. JOSEPH VANCE. D. D, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. Carlisle, son of Samuel and Mary Vanee, of South Strabane Township, Washington Co .. Penn., was born October 8, 1837. In 1853 he entered Washington College, now Washington and Jefferson, and graduated in September, 1858. In the same month he entered the Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Penn. Ile was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Washington in April, 1860, and graduated from the seminary in 1861. Ilis first charge was the Assembly Church, Beaver Dam, Wis., where he began his work in July, 1861. In June. 1862, he was ordained by the Presbytery of Winnebago. In Janu- ary, 1865, he entered the work of the Christian Commission, and was sent to Vicksburg, Miss. In February he was appointed by Col. John Eaton assistant superintendent of the schools of the Freedman's Department in the district of Vicksburg, and served in that capacity until the Ist of July. He was called to the Second Presbyterian Church of Vin- cennes. Ind., in September, 1865, and continued as its pastor until it was united with the First Presbyterian Church in April. 1873. Accepting a call to the church formed by the union, he remained until July, 1874. During his pastorage in Vincennes he was stated clerk of the presbytery, permanent clerk of the synod and a trustee of Hanover College. In April, 1866, he was married to Mary Hay Maddox, of Vincennes. She died in July, 1871, leaving one child, Charles Thompson. During the summer of 1875 Dr. Vance sup- plied the pulpit of the First Presbyterian Church of Reading, Penn., in the absence of its- pastor. The Rev. Dr. C. P. Wing having resigned the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church, Carlisle, in October, 1875, Mr. Vance was, in November of the same year. invited to supply the pulpit, and on the 30th of April. 1876, was installed pastor by a committee of Presbytery, consisting of Rev. Drs. C. P. Wing, J. A. Murray and George Norcross, of Carlisle. and Thomas Creigh, of Mercersburg. In September, 1890, he was married to Sarah II. Maddox, of Vincennes, Ind. Miriam C. is their only child. In June, 1884, the degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by the Western University of Pennsylvania, and also by Washington and Jefferson College.

HON. FREDERICK WATTS, retired lawyer. Carlisle. An eminent minister of the gospel once said: "The leading lawyer is always the most prominent member of the com- munity in which he lives." Whether this is always the case in large cities and commer- cial centers, or not. it is, no doubt, generally so in agricultural communities. That Judge Watts was the most prominent member of the community in which he lived for more than a quarter of a century is not questioned. As early as October, 1827, he prac- tieed in the supreme court of this State, and as late as the May term of 1869, and all through that period of forty-two years (except the three years he was on the bench), there is not a single volume of reports containing the cases from the middle district in which his name is not found; to which add the fact that for fifteen years he was reporter of the decisions of that court, and during that period, and before and after it, he was engaged in a large office business, and in the trial of nearly all the important cases in the courts below, in his own county and the county of Perry. But this did not satisfy his love for labor. Ile was, during this period, president of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, and continued in that office for twenty-six years. To his professional duties, and those con- nected with the railroad, he added constant activity in agricultural pursuits, not only in managing his farms, but as president of the Cumberland County Agricultural Society, and an active projector of the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, furthering the general agricultural interests of his county and State. Judge Watts was born in Carlisle, this county. May 9. 1801, and is a son of David Watts, one of the most distinguished lawyers of his day, and whose practice extended through all the middle counties of the State. His mother was a daughter of Gen. Miller, of Revolutionary fame, who afterward com- manded the United States troops at Baltimore during the war of 1812. Ilis grandfather, Frederick Watts, was a member of the executive council of Pennsylvania before the Rev- olution, and was one of the prominent men of the province and subsequent State. Our snbjeet, having been duly prepared, entered Dickinson College, from which he was grad- uated in 1819. He passed the two subsequent years with his uncle, William Miles, in Erie County, where he cultivated his taste for agricultural pursuits. In 1821 he returned to Carlisle, and entered the office of Andrew Carothers, as a law student; was admitted to the har in Angust, 1824, and soon acquired a lucrative practice. In 1845 he became presi- dent of the Cumberland Valley Railroad. It is to his energy and able management that the people of the valley are indebted for a road which, when he took hold of it, was in deht, out of repair, unproductive, and in a dilapidated condition, but which, through his ener-

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getic and economical management, has been brought up to a high state of prosperity, having paid all of its indebtedness and been made to yield handsome returns. March 9, 1849. Mr. Watts was commissioned by Gov. Johnston president judge of the Ninth Jndi- eial District, composed of the counties of Cumberland, Perry and Juniata. He retained the office until 1852. In 1854 he was elected president of the board of trustees of the Agri- cultural College of Pennsylvania, in which capacity he still acts. During the year 1854 he projected the erection of gas and water works for Carlisle, and, having formed a com- pany, was elected its president. He is a man of great force of character and abiding self- confidence. Whatever he has undertaken he has done with all his might, and whatever be his belief he believed implicitly. He never sat down at the counsel table to try a case that he did not impress the court and jury that he had perfeet confidence that he would gain it. His temper was completely within his control; his equanimity was perfect, and he was ever ready to avail himself of any slip of his adversary. He had great powers of concentration, and always prepared his law points at the counsel table as soon as the evi- dence was closed. This he did with great facility, always directing them to the main points of the ease. His power with the jury was very great. He was known hy every man in the counties in which he practiced, and was regarded as a man of large intellect, sterling integrity, and unblemished honor. To these he added the impression of perfect belief in the justice of his cause, and this was effected by a manner that was always dig- nified, and in speech that was clear, strong, convineing, and never tedious. He despised quirks and quibbles; was a model of fairness in the trial of a cause, and always encouraged and treated kindly younger members of the bar that he saw struggling honorably for prominence, and when he closed his professional career he left the bar with the profound respect of all its members. In 1871 he was tendered the appointment of commissioner of agriculture, which he declined. The offer was renewed, and he finally accepted the ap- pointment, and entered upon its duties August 1, 1871. An admirable system pervaded this department, and the three divisions were so arranged that the most detailed and accurate information could be obtained with the greatest facility. The country had not in its employ a more industrious, honest, faithful and large-hearted servant. He has ever since devoted himself assiduously to the practical development of the agricultural resources of the country.

EDWARD BIDDLE WATTS, attorney, Carlisle, son of Hon. Frederick and Henrietta (Ege) Watts, was born in Carlisle, September 13, 1851. In 1865 he entered Dr. Lyons' private school at West Haverford, ten miles west of Philadelphia, where he remained un- til 1868, when he went to Cheshire, and entered the Episcopal Academy of the State, and here pursued his studies until 1869, when, at the request of Dr. Horton, the principal of that institute, he accompanied him upon a tour in Europe. Immediately upon his return he entered Trinity College at Hartford, Conn., from which institution he was graduated in 1873. He returned to Carlisle and read law with John Hays, an attorney of the place, and was admitted to the bar of Pennsylvania, in 1875, and at once entered on the practice of his profession, at which he has since been engaged in his native town. In 1885 he was appointed attorney for the county commissioners of Cumberland County. Although a young man, Mr. Watts ranks high in his profession, in which he has thus far made a suc- cess. He is a member of the Eighth Regiment, National Guards of Pennsylvania, having served as captain of Company G (Gobin Guards) since February, 1885. He is identified with St. John's Episcopal Church.

HON. JOHN WISE WETZEL, lawyer, Carlisle, was born at that place, April 20, 1850, a son of George and Sarah E. (Shade) Wetzel. The subject of our sketch completed a good common school education, and took a preparatory course of study in Prof. Robert Sterrett's Academy here, and graduated from Dickinson College, in 1874. Meantime he had entered the study of law in the office of the late C E. Maglaugblin, Esq., and was admitted to the bar a short time before receiving his decree from Dickinson College. Af- ter his admission he located in practice here, and has since been deservedly successful. He has always been an ardent Democrat, and has taken considerable interest in the placing of able men before the people for office. In 1876 he was elected as a representa- tive to the Democratic State Convention from Cumberland County; in 1882 he was elected to preside as chairman of the county executive committee of his party for Cumberland County; and in 1881 was elected district attorney for the county. He married Lizzie, youngest daughter of John and Elizabeth Wolf, the union being blessed with a son, Frank. Mr. Wetzel has succeeded through life by his own exertions, being a self-made man. He gives liberally to all worthy objects, and is one of the active workers in the development of the social and industrial interests of Carlisle. He is a member of the Belles Letters, and Omega Chapter of the Chi Phi Fraternity of Dickinson College; is a member of the board of trustees of Frauklin and Marshall College; solicitor for the Board of Trade and Building & Loan Association of Carlisle: solicitor for the Harrisburg & Potomac Railroad. etc., ete. He is a worthy Mason and a member of the K. of P. Mr. and Mrs. Wetzel are regular attendants of the services of the Reformed Church of the United States.

BARRENS SYLVESTER WILDER (deceased), late proprietor of the "Mansion

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House," Carlisle, was a native of Ohio. He was born December 18, 1833, and was a son of Dwight and Harriet (Barrens) Wilder, the former a native of Massachusetts, and by occu- pation a farmer. To Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Wilder three sons and one daughter were born. of whom Barrens S., the subject of this sketch, was the second son and child, and when but a small boy his parents moved to this county, and settled on a farm, where Barrens grew up, attending school during the winters. December 20, 1859 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Gurtner, who was born in York County, Penn., July 22, 1813, a daughter of John and Susan ( Wise) Gurtner, the former of whom was a blacksmith, a native of Germany, and who came to this country when a child, and whose father, George Gurtner, settled in York County, Penn. John and Susan (Wise) Gurtner were the parents of one son and three daughters: Mary, who married Hezekiah Williams; John; Harriet, who married John Barnet, and Elizabeth, the wife of our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Barrens S. Wilder soon after marriage engaged in the hotel business, taking charge of the " Railroad House," at New Cumberland, which they conducted for four years; then took the hotel at Bridgeport, Cumberland County, with which they were identified until 1876, when they removed to Carlisle, and took charge of the " Mansion House," where Mr. Wilder died March 17, 1884. He was prominently connected with Masonry, having passed all the chairs in the various degrees of the order to the thirty-second degree, and was also a prominent member of the I. O. O. F. He was a member of the town council of Carlisle for three years, and stood high in the estimation of all as an upright, honest citizen. To Mr. and Mrs. Wilder five children were born, of whom the following named are living: Clara, wife of John Klink, resident of Harrisburg, a telegraph operator by profession, but at present employed as a clerk and book- keeper for Cumberland Valley Railroad Company; Susie, Arabella and Robert A. All the children were born at New Cumberland, Cumber- land County, and the youngest three reside with their mother.

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

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