USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 26
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Charles Henry, deceased, and Wilson. George Edward, the second child, is unmarried, and is engaged in the drug business at Somer- ville. Elizabeth Jane is the wife of William Kiercher, a ma- chinist employed in the Vulcan iron works of Tamaqua. They have one child, Charles F. In January, 1886, death severed Mr. Hinkley's first union, and on Nov. 1, 1888, he led to the altar Miss Elizabeth Jane Stoffragen, a native of Pottsville and a daughter of Frederick and Louisa Stoffragen. Mrs. Hinkley's parents arc among the pioneers of Pottsville and on Aug. 16, 1905, they celebrat- ed their golden wedding. There are two other daughters in the fam- ily besides Mrs. Hinkley, who is the eldest. The others are Mrs. Jacob Hoover, of Mount Carmel, and Miss Carrie, at home. To Mr. and Mrs. Hinkley has been born one child, Frederick H. Both parents are members of the Zion English Luthern church and the father is connected fraternally with Tamaqua Lodge, No. 238, Free and Accepted Masons; Harmony Lodge, No. 86, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and Pottsville Lodge, No. 49, Knights of the Golden Eagle.
Hirsh, Edward Mac, the former popular young editor and pro- prietor of the Tamaqua "Tri-Weekly Recorder," is the youngest living child of Peter and Elizabeth (Mackey) Hirsh, both natives of Schuylkill county, and married in Tamaqua, where their lives have been spent. In 1860 the father went on a prospecting tour through the far west and south, visiting California, Mexico and Central America. He is a machinist by occupation, and has been employed for many years at the Bethlehem (Pa.) steel works, but retains his residence in Tamaqua. They are the parents of seven children, four of whom are now living. The eldest is Robert H., who founded the Tamaqua Recorder in 1892 and conducted it for ten years, when he sold the plant to his brother Edward, and is now employed in religious journalismn at Allegheny, Pa. He married Anna Levering, of Philadelphia, and she died in 1901. Mary and Nellie are young ladies at home, and the last named is a teacher in the public schools of Tamaqua. The family are Presbyterians in religious affiliations. Edward Mac Hirsh was educated in the public schools, being a graduate of the Tamaqua high school. He began his business career as an em- ploye of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company at Tam- aqua. This engaged his attention until 1902, when he purchased the "Recorder," which is a spicy, well-edited journal, having a liberal home patronage, but which he has recently sold to Joseph H. Shepp and Earl W. Russell. Mr. Hirsh is a young man of high social standing in the community, and is regarded as one of the leading business men in Tamaqua. The founder of the Hirsh family in America was John Nicholas Hirsh, paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He was a native of France, came to America about 1830, and settled in Tamaqua among the pioneers of that place. He was one of the first merchants, was a Roman Catholic in religious faith and a Democrat in political views. His inarriage to Margaret Smith was blessed with a family of three
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sims and three daughters, the father, Edward Mac Hirsch, being one of the three now living Grandfather Hirsh died in 1875 at the age of eighty three years.
Hock, Conrad, deceased, late president of the Sailor Planing Mill and Lumber Company, was a native of Dorheim, by Fried burg, Hesse, Germany He was born May it. 1820, and came to the United States in 1853. He was educated in his native country. and more largely by a lifetime spent in careful reading and pri- vate study until he became a man exceptionally well mformed, an entertaining conversationalist, both in English and German, and was a man against whom no word of reproach could truthfully be uttered, He was a devout Christian who carried his religion into Is every-day walk and conversation. Mr. Hock died at the family home on North Second street, after a very brief illness, July 24. to For twelve years after his arrival in Pottsville, Conrad lock was employed as a laborer or clerk at the rolling mill. Dur ing this time he accumulated sufficient means to build, principally with his own hands, a very humble home for his family. He told the writer that the happiest moment of his life was the day that he moved under his own roof, unpretentious as it was. Mr. Hock was twice married, first in Germany, when he wedded Maria K. Appel on Aug. 29, 1850. She was a native of Frichlingen, Hesse, Germany. Six sons, all natives of Pottsville, were born to this union, viz .: William, John, Henry, George, Conrad K. and Louis, and all except Henry are residents of Schuylkill county. Mirs. llock died July 23, 1883, and July 31. 1884. Mr. Hock was married to the wife who survives him. In maidenhood she was Miss Cath- erine Schnaeiker, but was a widow named Snyder at the time of this marriage. She had a family of three daughters, who are now the wives of three of Mr. Hock's sons. In 1865 the subject of this article engaged in the time business at Cressona, an enterprise which proved profitable from the start. The business has been enlarged and continued, the father finally retiring from active work and the sons taking his place. Storage houses and sales- rooms are located in Pottsville. Mr. Hock was one of the organ- izing members of the German Reformed church in Pottsville, and served more than thirty years as elder and deacon. He was always in sympathetic touch with the church of his choice. though liberal and tolerant toward the religious opinions of others. In political views Mr. Hock was a Democrat. though he always maintained his right to independence in the choice of local candidates. lic never aspired to political honors, though he served one term as a member of the borough council, and was nine years a member of the school board. He took a decided interest in the principles and work of Odd Fellowship, and was a past grand of Hayden Lodge. No. 44. of that fraternity. He was also a member and past official of Wallhalla Lodge of the A. D. O. H. He was not only a good hus- band, but also a kind and indulgent father. Domestic in his tastes, his attention was given to his business, and his greatest happiness he found in being surrounded by his wife and children. Ile was a
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good man and a worthy citizen, and his loss was deeply felt in the community where he so long made his home.
Hock, Conrad K., secretary and treasurer of the Sailor Planing Mill and Lumber Company, was born in Pottsville, l'a., Sept. 4, 1865. He is the fifth in order of birth in a family of six sons born to Conrad and Maria (Appel) Hock, natives of Germany and carly settlers of Pottsville. The ancestral history appears fully in the personal sketch of Conrad Hock, in this volume. The father died June 23, 1906, and the mother's death occurred on July 23, 1881. Conrad K. Hock, of this review, was educated in the public schools of Pottsville and learned the printers' trade in his youth. Hle fol- lowed this trade for some ten years in carly manhood, subsequently becoming interested in the firm with which he has been connected as secretary and treasurer for the last twelve years, and of which his father was president at the time of his death. The Sailor Planing Mill and Lumber Company are extensive manufacturers of, and dealers in, all kinds of mill work, lumber, paints, builders' hardware, and supplies. It is one of the long-established and suc- cessful business institutions of Pottsville. Mr. Hock was married on Dec. 5, 1893, to Miss Helena, daughter of Frederick and Cath- erine Snyder, of Minersville, Pa., and they have four children: Kathryn, born June 28, 1895; Robert, born July 29, 1896; Helen, born Nov. 13, 1898, and Norman, born May 4, 1900.
Hock, John, a representative of a well-known Pottsville family, was born on Dec. 26, 1860, and is a son of the late Conrad Hock, whose personal sketch appears fully under the proper title in this volume. The history of the Hock family appears in the same con- nection. The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of Pottsville; was employed in his father's business during his early manhood years, and took charge of the same on the re- tirement of his father in 1882. From that date until 1901 he gave his exclusive attention to the production and sale of lime, and in the year last written he established his present business at Ja- lappa, which includes the handling of the necessary grains and the preparation and sale of malt. The output of his establishment is large, and the products are sold in distant localities, as well as in supplying a good local demand. Mr. Hock was married to Miss Carrie A. Kienzle, a daughter of Andrew and Caroline M. (Moser) Kienzle, of Pottsville. This was a most happy union, blessed with the birth of two daughters and two sons, the eldest of whom is Cora Mea, now the wife of Harry Nagle, of Pottsville. She was born May 4, 1886; Augusta Caroline was born Jan. 22, 1888; Har- old John was born June 7, 1892, and Douglass David was born Aug. 17, 1900. Mrs. Hock died on Sept 28, 1904, and on June 19. 1907, he contracted a second marriage, being united to Mrs. Carrie Lennick. of Pottsville. Mr. Hock and family are members of Trinity Lutheran church. In political views he is a Democrat, but has never sought or held official positions. Mr. Hock is promi- nently identified with the Masonic fraternity, having taken all the subordinate degrees from the "Blue Lodge" to the Mystic Shrine.
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and is also a member of the Odd Fellows, Lady of the Valley Lodge. No 281, and of the Good Will Fire Company.
Hoepstine, James W., Jr., agent for the Humane Hose Company at Pottsville, was born in that city on March 20, 1820, His par- ents. James W and Annetta ( Ebbert ) Hoepstine, were both native l'ennsylvamans, the former of Berks and the latter of Schuylkill county. Prior to the Civil war the father followed the trade of cash-maker in Pottsville. He served for over three years in the I'nion army as a member of Company A. with Pennsylvania vol- unteer miantry, taking part in practically all the battles in which his regiment was engaged. At the expiration of his term he was honorably discharged, returned to Pottsville, where he married and was for twenty-seven years in the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company. In 1905 he retired from this position and entered the soldiers' home at Erie. Pa., where he is now living. He is a member of the Union Veteran Legion and Post No. 23. Grand Army of the Republic, of Pottsville, and be- longs to the German Lutheran church. The children of James W. and Annetta Hoepstine that grew to maturity were James \' .. Charles, Louis, Jacob, Lucy and Edward. James W. Hoepstine. the subject of this sketch, was educated in the Pottsville public schools and was for twenty-one years in the employ of the Phila- delphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company, leaving that company on April 19, 1907. to accept his present position. On Feb. 5. 1800. he enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard: in May. 1891. was made corporal : was elected second lieutenant in the Pennsyl- vania volunteer infantry on May 9. 1898, for service in the Span- ish-American war, and was mustered out with that rank on March 7. 1800. Upon his return home he was elected first lieutenant in the National Guard and on Oct. 18. 1902. was elected captain of Company H. Sth regiment, which office he still holds. He is a member of Pottsville Aerie. No. 134. Fraternal Order of Eagles. and the Humane Steam Fire Company, of which he has been a member for thirteen years. From May. 1904. to May, 1905. he held the position of chief of the Pottsville fire department. Politi- cally he is a Republican. On May 18. 1894. Mr. Hoepstine married Miss Emma, daughter of John Creary, of Pottsville, and they have one daughter, named Ethel.
Hoffman, Charles P., a public-spirited and progressive business man of Pottsville, was born in Friedensburg. Berks county, Pa .. Sept. 20. 1866, a son of Rev. P. A. Hoffman, a minister in the Re- formed church, who spent his entire life in the ministry, princi- pally in the service of the church at Reading, where he died June 30. 1890. He was born at Cherryville, Northampton county, Pa .. and his wife, who was in maidenhood Miss Aravesta M. Rodder. was born at Bethlehem, in the same county. She is now living in Reading. These were the parents of five children, all living, and engaged in life's struggles on their own account. Charles P., of this article, is the eldest : Willard is chief engineer with the Deppen Brewing Company in Reading: J. Lange is employed with the
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White Steamer Company in Chicago; Bertha is the wife of Thomas Payne, of Reading, and C. Herbert is an expert carpet man in the employ of The G. M. Britton Company, of Pottsville. Charles P. Hoffman was educated in the Friedensburg public schools, Oley academy, a private school in Bethlehem, and is a graduate of the Reading high school, having graduated with class honors as class orator. He studied law for some time, but abandoned the profes- sion after his marriage, and, has spent his mature years principally in mercantile pursuits. He was for eighteen years in the employ of the firm of Gateley & Britton, and since the death of the senior partner of that firm has been with the successors, The G. M. Brit- ton Company. This company was organized in 1904, since which time Mr. Hoffman has been the secretary and general manager. They deal extensively in all kinds of house furnishings, and operate general department stores at Reading and Pottsville. Mr. Hoff- man began his mercantile career as a collector, and has gradually ascended the scale until he has attained the highest and most im- portant position within the gift of mercantile employers. He has been a resident of Pottsville since 1894, and has established high social and business relations with the leading people of the place. He has reached that point in civic life where his suggestions and help are sought and considered in all matters pertaining to the good of the town and its people. He was one of the moving spirits in formulating and systematizing the "Old Home Week" celebra- tion in Pottsville, a demonstration which will be long remembered as the leading event in the history of the town. Mr. Hoffman was the general chairman of the committees, and to him is due much of the credit for the grand success of the occasion. He is also chairman of the Pottsville civic society, having in view the pro- motion of enterprises calculated to benefit the material growth and prosperity of the town; is president of the Merchants' protec- tive association of Pottsville and vicinity ; is a moving spirit in the Commercial club ; a member of the Pottsville club, also of the West End Fire Company. He sustains high rank in the Masonic fraternity, his initial membership being with Reading Lodge, No. 549, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a past master ; Reading Chapter, No. 152, Royal Arch Masons; De Molay Com- mandery, No. 9, Knights Templars, of which he is past commander, and is a charter member of Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Schuylkill county historical society and of the board of control of the 3d regiment band. He is a Republican in political affiliations, and served eight or nine years as a member of the Reading election board. Mr. Hoffman was married on April 9, 1885, to Miss Sue E., daughter of Franklin and Amelia Bickley, of Reading. Her parents are both deceased. Mrs. Hoffman was graduated from the Reading high school in the same class as her husband. The only children of Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman, Belle and Elsie, died in infancy. The family are communicants in the Reformed church, the religious home of their ancestors.
Hoffman, Frank J., the junior member of the firm of Drobel & Hollman, merchant tulors and clothiers at Pottsville, a firm which though young m years already takes high rank among the places of trade in Schuylkill's county seat, is a native of the county in which a large part of his hie has been spent He was born in Middleport on July 6, 1875, las parents being William and Mary (Verensohn, Holtman The father was a native of Schuylkill township, this county, and the mother was born at sea, of Ger man parents, who at the time were on their unmigration voyage to America. Her parents were Martin and Margaret Wertensohn. and upon their arrival in America they became pioneer settlers in Middleport. William Hoffman, the father of the subject of this review, was a cigar manufacturer, and he followed that occupation It Patterson for twenty years, until his death. He reared to ma turity a family of five children, of whom Frank J. is the immediate subject of this memoir ; Mary is the wife of Heury Schlitzer; Mar- garet is the wife of Fred J. Drobel, mentioned more at length on another page : Fred and William. Frank J. Hoffman was reared in Patterson until he had reached the age of sixteen years, and was educated in the public schools of that place and at Pottsville. He came to Pottsville in 1801, and was there employed as a clerk in various stores until Jan. 1. 1007. when, in company with his brother-in-law. Fred J. Drobel, he became established in business for himself, under the firm name of Drobel & Hoffman, merchant tailors and up-to-date clothiers. He was married on Jan. 20, 1904. to Mardina, daughter of Fred and Mary (Schaefer) Schenck, of Pottsville. Mr. Hoffman is a member of St. John's Roman Catho- lic church and his political affiliations are with the Republican party.
Hoffman, George E., deceased, was a prominent merchant of Cressona. from 1860 until 1905. He was a son of Jacob Hoffman and Catherine Bensing, whose mother was a "Dreher," and a grandson of Cornelius Hoffman and Elizabeth Alspach, who set- lled on land in West Brunswick township after the Revolutionary war. Cornelius Hoffman came from Switzerland to America be- fore the Revolution began : enlisted at Philadelphia and served throughout the war: was made one of the body-guard of Gen. George Washington and was with him when he crossed the Dela- ware. A sword presented to him by General Washington is still in the possession of a member of the family. George E. Hoffman. the subject of this sketch, was born at Orwigsburg Feb. 9. 1835. and began his business career in a store at Cressona in 1853. In 1854 he was employed by John S. Morris, a merchant at Pottsville : joined the Washington artillerist military company, but resigned in order to give full attention to the business in which he em- barked at Cressona in June, 1860. On Sept. 20, 1860, he married Miss Anna R., daughter of John S. and Hannah Jones Cunning- ham Morris, and a granddaughter of Samuel and Mary Levering ()'Connor ( who was born at Philadelphia. in 1778, being a daughter of Paul O'Connor and Margaret Levering). Mrs. Hoffman's ma-
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ternal grandparents were Nathaniel Cunningham and Mary Jones, the latter being a daughter of Col. Jonathan Jones, of Revolu- tionary fame, who with john Morris and John Davis owned the land on which the almshouse at Reading is built, and all three were ancestors of Mrs. Hoffman. In November, 1864, Mr. Hoffman purchased the stock of merchant William Nammers, who was about leaving Cressona, Mr. Samnel Morris purchasing the property. He also had the postoffice transferred and was postmaster for a num- ber of years. In 1876 Mr. Hoffman purchased the property from Mr. Morris. He was school director for a number of terms. George E. Hoffman died at his daughter's home at Denison, la., Aug. 21, 1905, Icaving a widow and five children. The eldest, Samuel Morris, is deceased; John Louis is a practicing physician at Ashland; Alice Rebecca married Harlowe A. Boyle, M. D., a son of Maj. John Alexander Boyle of the Civil war; Harry Leslie is an artist in New York city, and Lucy Brewster is the wife of William Wilson McCloy of Virginia. Mr. Hoffman was an in- tensely religious man and for more than twenty years was a mem- ber of the Evangelical church and superintendent of the Sunday school. Subsequently he joined the Methodist Episcopal church and was superintendent of the Sunday school until his failing health caused his resignation. After his death the general mer-
chandise business which he had been conducting was taken charge of by his son-in-law, Capt. William W. McCloy. Captain McCloy is a son of William J. and Elizabeth F. (Storrs) McCloy, the for- mer of whom was a first lieutenant in the 15th Virginia Confed- erate infantry during the Civil war. Captain McCloy was a mem- ber of Company B. 24th Virginia Confederate cavalry, and partici- pated in the battles of Fairfax Court House, Charles City Court House, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor. Deep Bottom, Richmond and others. He was one of the escort with the body of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson after the latter was killed at Chancellorsville, and remained with it while it lay in state in Richmond. After the war Captain McCloy was engaged as a civil engineer until 1904, when he located in Cressona and embarked in business with Mr. Hoffman. He married Lucy B. Hoffman June 12, 1900, and has one son, Lewis Morris, living in Cressona.
Hoffman, J. Louis, M. D .- The following excellent sketch of Dr. J. Louis Hoffman appears in the Cyclopedia of Schuylkill County, and as but little change has occurred in the family history since the date of the article quoted, we give it here in full. On the paternal side. he is of German lineage, being a direct descend- ant of the family bearing the same name in Halle, Prussia, who have been connected with medicine since 1460, the most famous member of which, Frederick Hoffman (1660-1742), was one of the founders of the Halle university in 1693. He was its first pro- fessor of the theory and practice of medicine, a position which he held from the founding of the institution until his death, with the exception of four years. from 1708 to 1712, when he was the royal physician at Berlin. His grandson. Cornelius Hoffman, emi-
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grated from Switzerland to the American colonies in 1708, and located on the Schuylkill, below the present site of Pottstown, from which place he entered the service of his adopted country as a captam in Colonel Magraw's oth Pennsylvania regiment, Second brigade of the Colonial Lane, in 1770, and was with Washington when he crossed the Delaware and surprised and captured the Hessians at Trenton. His sword is an heirloom in the family. After the close of the war for Independence in 1783, he took up his rest- dence in Brunswick township (then Berks county), on the present site of Orwigsburg, and followed the pursuits of a farmer during the remainder of his life. Ilis son Jacob retained possession of the original homestead and married Kate Bensinger, and these were the paternal grandparents of Dr. J. Louis Hoffman, of this sketch. Concerning the parents of Dr. Hoffman proper mention is made in the preceding memoir of his father, George E. Hoffman. The founder of his mother's family on American soil was Richard Morris, who was an officer of distinction in the armies of Oliver Cromwell. He left England soon after the Restoration and eventually landed in New York, where he purchased a large estate near Harlem, in Westchester county. Subsequently he obtained a grant from Governor Fletcher through the pro- visions of which his estate of more than 3,000 acres was created into a manor under the name of 'Morrisania.' and it was endowed with all the customary memorial privileges. He died in 1073. leaving an infant child named Lewis, who became chief justice of the Province of New York, and governor of New Jersey. Descend- ants of this ancestor have occupied very distinguished positions in the history of states and the nation. They have been noted as orators, statesmen and professional men, and had a representative of the Colonial Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. John S. Morris, the great-grandson of Richard, and grandfather of Dr. Hoffman, was born at Reading. Pa .. in 1811. and died in Pottsville in 188 ;. He located in the last named place in 1830, and spent his active years in merchandising. He was a public-spirited citizen, active and zealous in the promotion of every enterprise calculated to enhance the interests of the country. Dr. Hoffman is a member of a family of five children who attained to years of maturity. He was educated, primarily, in the public schools of Cressona. This was later supplemented by a scientific course at the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he received the degree of Bachelor of Science. In preparation for his professional career he was a student for two years in the office of Dr. Fegley, at Ashland, from whose office he entered the medi- cal department of the University of Pennsylvania, and was gradu- ated with the class of 1886. He was resident physician in St. Luke's hospital. South Bethlehem. Pa., for two years after his graduation, and was subsequently associated with the Fifth Street dispensary and the Out-Door department of the Pennsylvania hospital, at Philadelphia, thence to Ashland in this county. The doctor has been successful as a general practitioner of medicine
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