History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, Part 117

Author: edited by John F. Meginness
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1650

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JAMES FARNSWORTH, son of Isaac and Mary (Wilkinson) Farnsworth, was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, in 1814. He was a wagonmaker by trade, but followed farming the latter part of his life. He married Margaret Brewer, who was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. in 1812, by whom he became the father of eight children: Susan, who married Richard W. Lyons: Sadie, who married William Tilley: Melinda; Elizabeth, who married Milton Runyan; Julia A., who married Francis Runyan; Samuel; Catherine, and R. Bartley. Mr. Farnsworth died in 1867, and his widow in 1SS7; they were consistent members of the Moreland Baptist church.

R. BARTLEY FARNSWORTH, farmer, was born in Franklin township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, son of James and Margaret (Brewer) Farnsworth. He received a common school education, and has devoted his life to farming. He was married in October, 1SS0, to Miss Alice Rnnyan, and of this union have been born four chil- dren: Zana B .; William J .; Ina E., and A. Brewer, deceased.

JOHN LOWE was a native of New Jersey. He had four sisters. One married Samuel C. Price, who was four years a judge, and lived and died in New Jersey: another married a Mr. House, who also died in New Jersey; the third married a Mr. Hopkins, a minister, with whom she removed to Canada; the fourth married Michael Paugh, and moved to Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. John Lowe had one son, Henry, by his first wife, and by his second wife, Elizabeth Dudder, four sons and three daughters were born. The sons were: Philip: Thomas, who was a min- ister, and reared a large family, all of whom became .members of the Methodist Episcopal church: John, who died at the age of nineteen years, and Isaac, who married a Miss Miller, settled in Columbia county, and reared eight children.

PHILIP LOWE, son of John and Elizabeth Lowe, was twice married. His first wife was a Miss Fague, by whom he had four sons and four daughters: Thomas; John; Charles: Philip; Catherine; Mary; Somilla, and Hannah. His second wife was Mrs. Mary Tanner, by whom he had two sons: Isaac and Henry.

THOMAS LOWE, eldest son of Philip Lowe, was a farmer and lumberman. He married Elizabeth Buck, and to this union were born four children: Catherine; Mary S., deceased; Robert, and Charles. Mrs. Lowe died in 1850, and Mr. Lowe

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was again married, to Anna Phillips, by whom he reared twelve children: George; Franklin, deceased; Maggie; Alice, deceased; Alfred; Jane, deceased; Leah; Galena; Clark; Dennis; Anna, and Ernest. Mr. Lowe died in 1888, at the age of eighty-two years.

CHARLES LOWE, farmer, was born in Franklin township, Lycoming county, Penn- sylvania, February 17, 1846, son or Thomas and Elizabeth (Buck) Lowe. He received a common school education and has devoted his life to farming. He enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Ninety-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, in 1864, and served until the close of the war. He has served in most of the township offices. October 12, 1867, he was married to Catherine Poust, and to this union four chil- dren survive: Mary, who is the stenographer for the Bloomsburg School Furniture Manufacturing Company; Florence; George, and Anna. The deceased are Franklin; Jane, and Alice.

ANDREW CROUSE, a native of Baden, Germany, came to America at an early date. He was a tobacconist by trade, which he followed in Philadelphia for some time, and afterward continued the same business at Harrisburg. He then bought 400 acres of land in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, in 1793, upon which he settled and remained until his death. He was a composer of and taught music, and owned the first piano that was ever brought to Columbia county. He married Susan Giger, of Harrisburg, and to this union were born four children: Andrew; Charles; Phenice, deceased, and Sarah, deceased. Mrs. Crouse died, and Mr. Crouse afterward had eight children born to him by Caroline Weidel: Phoebe, deceased; Maria, deceased; Caroline; Louisa; Philip; John; Hiram, who was murdered and burned in his store at Lairdsville, and Nelson, who lives in Columbia county, Pennsylvania. Andrew Crouse died in 1835. His sons, Philip and John, were born, the former March 9, 1814, and the latter in October, 1816, in Columbia county, Pennsylvania. Philip removed to Lycoming county in 1851, and his brothers, John and Hiram, came soon after. They have since been dealing in lumber and farming.

JACOB HOUSEKNECHT was born in 1799, son of John Houseknecht, one of the ear- liest settlers of Lycoming county. He reared a family of five sons and five daugh- ters: John; Daniel; Benjamin; Christian; Jacob; Hannah; Betsey; the other three are unknown. Jacob was married to Susan Sones, daughter of Peter Sones, a Revolutionary soldier. To this union were born eleven children: John; Peter, deceased; Betsy, deceased; Jacob; Julia A., who married Adam Renn; Isacher; Charles, who enlisted in the army and was killed by the bursting of a shell at Peters- burg; Benjamin, who also enlisted in the army and was wounded at Fredericksburg; Mary, who married William Johnson; Phoebe, who married Thomas McGorden, and Daniel. Mr. Houseknecht died September 1, 1885.

JOHN HOUSEKNECHT, retired farmer, was born in Penn township, Lycoming coun- ty, Pennsylvania, May 16, 1821, son of Jacob and Susan (Sones) Houseknecht. He received a common school education, and was married to Jane Bartlow, by whom he has had the following children: Charles N .; Susan; Ira; Peter; Hiram; Albert; Phineas; Nancy; Marietta; Harry, and Edward. Mrs. Houseknecht died, April 16, 1872, and he was again married, to Julia Arthur, the widow of William Arthur. He and wife are members of the Lutheran church.

WILLIAM LORE came from Northampton county, Pennsylvania, to Lycoming

D. C. Philips

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

county in 1816 and settled upon a farm. He was married to Miss E. Barbara Reed, and to them were born seven children: John, deceased; Catherine; George P., deceased; Elizabeth, deceased; Lydia; Mary, deceased, and William, deceased. Mr. Lore died in 1850, preceded by his wife two years. John, his eldest son, was mar- ried to Mary A. Wilson, by whom he had four sons and two daughters: George P .; Mary J .; William J. ; Benjamin; Sarah, and Thomas, deceased. John Lore died in 1846, and his widow in 1857.

WILLIAM J. LORE, farmer, was born April 9, 1837, son of John and Mary (Wilson) Lore. He received a common school education, and has devoted his life principally to farming. September 1, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, Eighteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and was mustered out of service September 24, 1865. He took an active part in forty-five engagements; was taken prisoner at Cedar Creek, Virginia, and confined in Libby prison, Salisbury prison, and a hospital, in all a term of seven months. Upon his return from the army he resumed farming, which he has since continued, and resides upon the farm whereon his father settled. In 1867, he was elected a justice of the peace, re-elected four times, and has thus served a term of twenty-five years; in 1892 he was again re-elected. He was mar- ried, January 12, 1860, to Miss Susan Stackhouse, and to them have been born six children: Thomas W. ; Hannah E., who married J. W. Budman; Jacob C .; Judson M .; Sarah M., and Anna M. Mr. and Mrs. Lore are members of the Lutheran church. He is a Democrat in politics, and a member of Lieutenant Bryan Post, G. A. R.

ENOCH Fox was born near Danville, Montour county, Pennsylvania. He was a shoemaker by trade, which he followed for several years in connection with farming. In 1832 he was employed by William Boyd as a coal operator near Girardville, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. In 1841 he came to Columbia county, locating near Unityville, near the Lycoming line, and thereafter was a farmer. He served in several township offices, and was an active and enthusiastic Democrat. His family consisted of four children.

JOHN J. Fox, retired farmer and hotel-keeper, was born in Montour county, Penn- sylvania, April 20, 1828, son of Enoch and Christiana (Sethler) Fox. He received a common school education, at the Danville schools, and began his business life at farming and lumbering, which he followed for twenty-five years. He then went into the mercantile business, and after two years he sold out and went into the hotel business. He has filled most of the township offices. February 27, 1848, he was married to Miss Mary Forsyth, and to this union were born two children: Christi- ana, who married John M. McClintock, and Amanda, who is the widow of Albert P. Gordner. Mrs. Fox died, September 25, 1886, and Mr. Fox was again married, September 28, 1887, to Mrs. Margaret E. Kitzmiller, of Williamsport. Mr. Fox was one of the charter members of the I. O. O. F. of Unityville, and donated a lot upon which the building was erected for that organization. He is a member of the Evangelical Association, was the principal builder of the present church edifice, and gave part of the land for the graveyard. He is a director of the Moreland Fire Insurance Company, of Lairdsville.

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HISTORY OF LYCOMING COUNTY.

CHAPTER L.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

BOROUGH OF HUGHESVILLE, AND WOLF (INCLUDING PICTURE ROCKS), SHREWSBURY, AND PENN TOWNSHIPS.

JOHN HILL was born at Windsor Castle, Berks county, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1787, son of Jacob Hill, a soldier of the Revolution, and grandson of John Daniel Hill, who was born in Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, about 1723, and late in life removed from Windsor Castle, Berks county, to Greensburg, Westmoreland county, where he died about 1814. The family is descended from an ancestor who migrated from Ireland to Switzerland after the Reformation; and as early as 1682 and soon after they were represented in southeastern Pennsylvania. Jacob Hill removed to the Muncy valley in 1794, locating within the present limits of Wolf township, and here John Hill was reared and obtained a limited education; and here he resided upon the parental homestead or in its immediate vicinity, until his death-a period of seventy-nine years. His father suffered from physical disability entailed by his military service, and at the age of eighteen John Hill, being the eldest of his sons, was obliged to do much of the business of his father beyond the home, especially at the courts of the county, and thus early formed those business habits to which his future success is largely attributable. In 1815 he married Catharine Steck, and they were the parents of twelve children: George Hill, M. D., of Hughesville; Jacob and John, who died in infancy; Rev. R. Hill, of Mount Airy Seminary, Phila- delphia; Dr. Charles M. Hill, of Hughesville, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of Elwood Hughes, of Dixon, Illinois; Sarah A., deceased wife of Rev. P. Born, D. D., of Missionary Institute, Selinsgrove; Susanna, widow of Rev. Joshua Evans; Hannah, deceased wife of Capt. A. C. Mensch, of Dover, Delaware; Martha, deceased, who married Rev. Charles Ehrhart, deceased, formerly professor at Pennsylvania Col- lege, Gettysburg; Mary C., wife of Rev. J. R. Dimm, D. D., principal of Mission- ary Institute, Selinsgrove, and Margaret, deceased. About the year 1812 Jacob Hill was elected captain of a military company; he subsequently rose to the rank of major, and displayed ability as a tactician. In 1836 he was commissioned as justice of the peace, and held this office until it became elective. He became a Whig during the second term of Jackson's presidency, and at the formation of the Republican party became an earnest supporter of its principles and measures. About the year 1830 he took advance ground regarding the use of alcoholic stimulants, and was ever after an ardent temperance advocate. He became a member of the Lutheran church early in life; much of his life he was an officer in the church, and at all times he was zealous in promoting her interests. In this faith he died, June 1, 1873, at the advanced age of eighty six years and six days.

GEORGE HILL, M. D., was born in Wolf township, Lycoming county, January 14,

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

1816, son of John Hill. His early education was obtained under the tuition of Mary Hopkins, daughter of Rev. Uzal Hopkins, an Episcopal clergyman, William Rea, Jonathan Worthington, and B. M. French. At the age of seventeen he entered the Milton Academy, where he received instruction from Revs. David Kirk- patrick and David Furgeson, and among his surviving schoolmates at this famous institution are Dr. Thomas Lyon, Andrew G. Curtin, and William Hayes. In the spring of 1835 he entered the office of Dr. John W. Peale at Hughesville as a stu- dent of medicine; and after attending two preparatory and two regular courses at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, he graduated from that institution on the 1st of March, 1838, with the degree of M. D. On the 1st of April following he began practice at Hughesville in partnership with his former preceptor, whose prop- erty he purchased at the expiration of six months. Here he continued until the autumn of 1847, when he disposed of his professional interests and took a third course of lectures at his alma mater. On the 1st of April, 1848, he located at Bloomsburg, where he had an extensive practice until April 1, 1S55; he then returned to his former field of practice at Hughesville, where he has ever since prosecuted his profession. In 1839 there were but three practitioners in Lycoming county south and east of Williamsport-Doctors Wood, Rankin, and Hill; the latter has lived to see this number increase to thirty within the period of his active professional life. On the 10th of September, 1840, Dr. Hill married Rachel, daughter of Jeremiah Hughes, of Catawissa, Pennsylvania, and granddaughter of William Hughes, the founder of that town. This family was prominent in the Society of Friends, their ancestors having come from England in 1682 with Penn. To Dr. and Mrs. Hill were born the following children: J. Clinton, attorney at law, Williamsport; J. Harvey, M. D., Baltimore, Maryland; George A., M. D., Williamsport; Justin L., pharmacist, Williamsport; Cornelia; Catharine, deceased, and Rachel Ada.

BALTZER STECK was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, of German parentage, July 6, 1759. At an early date he located at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, where he became employed in the business of milling. He was united in mar- riage to Elizabeth Fague, daughter of Frederick Fague, then residing near Sunbury. The dust from the grinding grain not agreeing with his health, he abandoned his chosen occupation and came to Lycoming county, where he purchased the farms on the west side of Muncy creek a short distance below Hughesville in Wolf town- ship subsequently owned by his two sons, Frederick and John. Baltzer and Eliza- beth Steck had three children, two of whom, Frederick and Catherine, were born while they still resided at Northumberland, and John was born in Wolf township. Baltzer Steck was a brother of Rev. J. Michael Steck, who so long and so ably filled the pulpit of the Lutheran church at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and like the latter he was a stanch Lutheran, and to-day, ten of his descendants, eight of them bearing the name of Steck, are in the ministry of the same church. He died in the year 1821, and his wife died in 1847, aged eighty-seven years.

FREDERICK STECK, son of Baltzer and Elizabeth (Fague) Steck, was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. He died, May 15, 1860, and was the father of nine children: John, deceased; Daniel, deceased, who was a Lutheran minister, and was sent by his congregation to Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where he organized congregations and built churches; George; Jacob, who is a

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HISTORY OF LYCOMING COUNTY.

Lutheran minister living in North Carolina; Andrew J., deceased; Charles T., who is a Lutheran minister of Shamokin, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth D .; Christiana, and Julia, who married J. J. Hess.

JOHN STECK, son of Baltzer Steck, was born in Wolf township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1796. In the earlier part of his life he followed the occupa- tion of farmer; later he also engaged in the lumber business and merchandising. He was a number of times elected to the office of justice of the peace, and in the year 1844 he was elected a county commissioner, being the first Whig elected to that office in Lycoming county from its organization up to that time; at this election he received the unanimous vote of his native township. In the year 1820 he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Hill, daughter of John Jacob and Christina Hill, and sister of the late John Hill, deceased. To this union were born three children: Michael; Jacob, and Susan. The two former are now deceased; Susan was married to Henry Dieffenderfer. After the death of his first wife, John Steck was married to Sarah Baker, daughter of Jacob and Susannah C. Baker, and to them were born ten children: Elizabeth; George W .; Daniel; John M .; Mary Catherine; William H .; Christina; Harriet; B. Frank, and Julia E .; of these George and Frank have died, and Elizabeth was married to Rev. C. W. Sanders, a Lutheran minister, now located at Canton, Illinois; Daniel resides at Hughesville; John M. is a Lutheran minister now residing at Williamsport; Mary Catherine was married to Dr. E. Andrews, of Santa Fé, New Mexico, where she now resides; William H., is a Lutheran minister now located at Coatesville, Pennsylvania; Christina was married to Jacob F. Hill, of Muncy, where she now resides, her husband being deceased; Harriet was married to Samuel B. Wheelock, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, but her husband being dead, she now lives in Hughesville, and Julia E. was married to A. D. Hall, of Shenandoah, Iowa, where she now resides. John Steck died, August 25, 1854, and Mrs. Steck in October, 1865.

MICHAEL STECK, eldest son of John and Elizabeth Steck, was born, October 6, 1818. He was graduated from Jefferson Medical College about the year 1844. After practicing medicine for some time at Mifflinville, Pennsylvania, he was appointed by President Fillmore Indian agent for a number of tribes in the Territory of New Mexico, which position he held until the early part of President Buchanan's admin- istration, when he was appointed superintendent of Indian affairs for the same Territory for a term of four years. At the expiration of his term of office he returned to the States, and settled near the place of his birth, Hughesville. In the year 1882, he purchased landed interests near Winchester, Virginia, where he died October 6th of the following year. Dr. Steck was twice married; his first wife and their only child died while they resided in New Mexico. His second wife and three chil- dren who survive him still reside at Winchester.

DANIEL STECK, son of John Steck, was born on a farm near Hughesville, Decem- ber 28, 1832. He was educated at the Bloomsburg high school, and has devoted the most of his time to farming. In 1875 he was elected county commissioner, and in 1883 prothonotary for Lycoming county. In 1887 he purchased thirty acres of land adjoining Hughesville, and laid out what is known as Steck's addition to that borough, whereon there have been already about thirty houses built. He has devoted considerable time to scientific study and research. In the summer of 1855

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

he furnished for publication in The American Agriculturist, at the request of the editor of that journal, a history of the "Habits, etc. of the Wheat Midge," an insect which at that time threatened the total destruction of the wheat crop of our country. Other articles of a scientific character from his pen have from time to time appeared in the public press. At the present time he has in course of preparation a treatise on the "Origin and Formation of Coal," which embraces a revision of the ancient "Transportation" hypothesis, and also includes a logical disposal of the only two material objections that have ever been urged against the same. Mr. Steck was married, December 28, 1859, to Sarah, a daughter of Hon. L. B. Rupert, late of Bloomsburg. Pennsylvania, and to this union have been born three children: Edwin R., deceased; Eva S., who married E. A. Chamberlain, and Hattie, who married W. M. Wise. Mr. Steck is a Republican, and with his family belongs to the Lutheran church; he has filled all the offices of the church and was one of the building com- mittee for the Hughesville and South Williamsport churches.

CHARLES REEDER was born in England, June 24, 1713, and came to America in 1734. In 1737 he married Eleanor Merrick, and they were the parents of eleven children: Joseph. born September 3, 1738; Charles, June 15, 1743; Benjamin, March 20, 1746; Jesse, August 25, 1748; David, May 3, 1750: Abraham, July S, 1752; Merrick, July 31, 1754; Hannah, Angust 15, 1756; John, November 29, 1761; Mary, September 15, 1764, and Job. The parents of these children were both mem- bers of the Society of Friends. The will of Charles Reeder, Sr., was made June 16, 1800, and admitted to probate on the Sth of September, 1804. Benjamin Reeder settled in Shamokin, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. Jesse Reeder was drowned when a young man while fishing in the Delaware river. Job Reeder was born in New Jersey while his parents were temporarily sojourning in that State, having been driven by the Indians from their home in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He removed to Lycoming county and his sons, Samuel and Joseph, settled in Erie county, Pennsylvania.

MERRICK REEDER, Sr., son of Charles and Eleanor Reeder, removed from the Canaan farm, Wrightstown, Pennsylvania, to Muncy in 1810. In 1773 he married Elizabeth Collins, and they had thirteen children: Benajah, born November 30, 1774; Merrick, February 8, 1776; Jonathan, June 10, 1777; David, August 23, 1778: Hannah, April 11, 1780; Mary, October 29, 1781; Rebecca, May 30, 1783; Elizabeth, April 3, 1785; Charles, April 18, 1787; Andrew, June 12, 1789; John, May 18, 1791; Eleanor, November, 4, 1793, and Jesse, August 10, 1796.

ANDREW REEDER, son of Merrick Reeder, was a farmer, and took an active part in Democratic politics; he was elected commissioner for Lycoming county in 1852, and was married to Anna Kimble, who was born September 6, 1791, and to this union were born seven children: Margaret, born June 12, 1814; Charles, deceased, January 16, 1816; Henry C., March 22, 1818; Andrew C., September 15, 1820; Anna, January 20, 1824; Peter, and Merrick, deceased, (twins), October 4, 1827. Andrew Reeder died, September 27, 1874, and his wife, Jannary 23, 1879.

PETER REEDER, lumber dealer, was born near Montoursville, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, October 4, 1827, son of Andrew and Anna (Kimble) Reeder. He was educated in the common schools, and began his business life as a farmer and drover, alternating with teaching school in the winter. In 1866 he engaged in the mercan-

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HISTORY OF LYCOMING COUNTY.

tile business in Hughesville, and also the lumber business; he has built thirteen houses in Hughesville, and is still engaged in lumbering, but sold his mercantile store in 1887 to Reeder & Derr. In 1878 he was elected to the State legislature; he has been county auditor, and has served on the school board and council of Hughesville. He was married, September 15, 1853, to Sarah F., daughter of Henry Ritter, and to them were born nine children: Annie, born July 1, 1854, who married William L. Laird; Lizzie, who was born July 25, 1856, and died May 23, 1890; Robert K., whose sketch appears elsewhere; Margaret, born March 6, 1860; Henry C., born September 25, 1862, who is a civil engineer of Williamsport; Charles, born April 2, 1864; Milton, born March 18, 1866; Frank A., born June 17, 1869, and Jessie May, who was born November 1, 1875, and died July 28, 1876.

JACOB POUST, a native of Ireland, settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania, at an early date, subsequently removing to Lycoming county, where he settled in Muncy Creek township upon the land now owned by John Youkem. He had five sons and three daughters: John; Henry; Samuel; Daniel H. ; Jacob; Hannah; Catharine, and Mary, all of whom are deceased. Jacob, the youngest son, was born in Berks county and came with his parents to Lycoming, where he was reared and learned the carpenter's trade. After reaching manhood he settled in Penn township and cleared a farm of 250 acres, whereon he resided until his death in 1836. In religious connection he was a Lutheran. He married Elizabeth Houseknecht, and to them were born eleven children: Catharine, who married David Vandine; Charles, deceased, who married Margaret Shipman; Elizabeth, who is the widow of John Berger; Hannah, deceased wife of Philip Frantz; John, who married Elizabeth Frantz; Jacob, who married Jane Derr; Levina, who married Daniel S. Smith; Mary, deceased wife of Jacob Gray; George H., who married Phoebe Miller; Philip, deceased, and Daniel.

DANIEL H. PoUST, carpenter, was born, November 1, 1833, son of Jacob and Eliza- beth (Houseknecht) Poust. He was educated in the common schools until the age of thirteen years, when he hired out to work on the farm for two years. He then began to learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed for twenty-three years. After working for some time on a farm which he had purchased he again resumed his trade, which he has continued to the present time. December 27, 1859, he was married to Mary C. Deifenbacher, and to this union have been born two children: Clarence, who was born, October 22, 1861, taught three terms of school, and died October 22, 1881; and Howard, who was born July 31, 1865, and died November 26, 1881. Mrs. Poust died June 30, 1886, and was a member of the Lutheran church, of which Mr. Poust is also a member.

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History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, Part 117

Author: edited by John F. Meginness Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk Number of Pages: 1650

Author: edited by John F. Meginness
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Brown, Runk
Number of Pages: 1650