History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 11

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1390

USA > Pennsylvania > York County > History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 11

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mr. Strawbridge began his domestic life Nov. 9, 1887, when he married Miss Lizzie Smyser, daughter of Lewis E. Smyser, a coal and lumber merchant, and great-great-grand- with is but justice to him and the efforts he

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

has put forth in its interests. Mr. Frick's ad- moved to Massachusetts in 1850, and in 1858 ministration of the duties of cashier has been came to Pennsylvania. He died in San Jose, characterized by a policy at once progressive Cal., in 1892, aged eighty-two years. Dr. and conservative. He is enterprising and ever Jeffers' mother was Mary Tupper, daughter of Eliakim Tupper, a jeweler and farmer, and she died in 1856, aged fifty years. Seven sons and one daughter were born to the parents of our subject, of whom John was killed July 14, 1862, while serving in Company D, 10th Penn- sylvania Reserves, in the Battle of the Wilder- ness ; William A. lives in Leavenworth, Kans. where he is engaged in the stove manufactur- ing business; and Charles A. is an expert ac- countant in Los Angeles, California. alive to the best interests of the establishment in which he holds so important a place, but he is honorable and honest to the last degree. Moreover, he believes in consideration and courtesy to all with whom he comes in contact, a fact which has won him a personal popularity which is an appreciable factor in many trans- actions. Mr. Frick is not only a thorough busi- ness man; he goes deeper into the causes and effects of the interests he has espoused than most men would deem necessary, and as a re- sult he is an authority on all matters relating to banking, either theoretical or practical. He has never been active in public life and has never held public office, but he is interested in the general welfare and public utilities, and is serving as treasurer of both the York Gas Com- pany and the York Water Company.

During the Civil war Mr. Frick gave two terms of service to the Union cause, first be- coming a member of Company A, 16th regi- ment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, a three months' regiment. He entered the army the second time as lieutenant of Company K, 130th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, with which he participated in the battles of Antie- tam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and is connected with the La- fayette Club and the Country Club of York. Mr. Frick is fond of out-door sports, and is frequently seen at the golf links.

Mr. Frick was married Sept. 7. 1869, to Mary L. Myers, daughter of Rev. Thomas and Sarah Ann (Norris) Myers, and three chil- dren have been born to them, namely: Norris Hershey, Alice Myers and John Arthur.

REV. ELIAKIM TUPPER JEFFERS, D. D., LL. D., President of the Faculty of the York Collegiate Institute, is descended from Thomas Tupper, of Sandwich, England, who came to America in 1628 and settled in Sand- wich, Mass. There on extensive allowances of land he engaged in agricultural pursuits, and was deputy from Sandwich to the Plymouth Council during most of his life.

The father of Dr. Jeffers, James Dickey Jeffers, was a farmer in Nova Scotia, but

Eliakim Tupper Jeffers was born in Nova Scotia April 6, 1841, and was educated in Jefferson College. Canonsburg, Pa., graduating in 1862. He was graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1865. Dr. Jeffers be- came pastor of the United Presbyterian Church of Oxford, Pa., July 1, 1865, and served there until 1872, when he became president of West- minster College, New Wilmington Pa., remain- ing there until 1883. He was then made Pro- fessor of Theology at Lincoln University, and there remained until 1890. He next became pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Oil City., Pa., remaining until 1893, at which time he was called to the Presidency of the Faculty of York Collegiate Intsitute, a position he has since filled with marked efficiency.

On May 14, 1867, Dr. Jeffers married Esther Graham Hodgens, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Graham) Hodgens. Mr. Hodgens was a farmer and tanner of Canonsburg, build- ing the first large tannery west of the moun- tains. He died in 1857, his wife surviving until 1902, when she passed away at the re- markable age of nearly one hundred years. To the union of Dr. Jeffers and Esther G. Hodgens came five children: Mary; Harriet, the wife of Rev. E. E. Curtis, of Chestnut Level, Lancaster county; George H., in the hardware business: Roland H., head chemist of the Worth Steel Plant, Coatesville; and Evetta Tupper, at home. Mary and Evetta are graduates of the college at Bryn Mawr, Miss Mary being engaged in teaching Latin and Greek in a preparatory school at the same place. Mrs. Jeffers died March 30, 1905.

Dr. Jeffers received the degree of A. B. at Jefferson College, in 1862, and those of D. D. (in 1872) and LL. D. (in 1902) from Wash- ington and Jefferson College.

It is not flattery to say that no man has

٤٫٠٠٠٠

ES. Jeffers

BIOGRAPHICAL

left his impress for good upon the minds of his personal efforts that the society started the more young people of Pennsylvania than has Dr. Jeffers, for many people whose lives are portrayed in this volume have received not only their scholastic training, but also their moral and religious education, from him.

CHARLES A. HAWKINS, attorney-at- law and member of the York County Bar, was born at Fawn Grove, York county, Jan. 7, 1859. He obtained his preparatory educa- tion at the public schools of his native town- ship, the York County Academy, and Bethel Academy, in Harford county, Md. He then entered Swarthmore College, near Philadel- phia, and was graduated from that institu- . tion in 1878. During the succeeding five years Mr. Hawkins was connected with the National Publishing Company, Philadelphia, of which his uncle, Joshua R. Jones, a native of Fawn township, is the proprietor, and later with Jones Brothers & Company, publishers, of Cincinnati. While with the latter firm he established branch houses for them at Kansas City and St. Louis, being located personally at the two places about a year. He had pre- viously started for them a general agency at Melbourne, Australia. In 1883-84 he was principal of the Fawn Grove Academy. While teaching he read Blackstone, and subsequently pursued the study of law successively in the offices of Judge Robert J. Fisher and Hon. Levi Maish, at York. He was admitted to the Bar in 1885. In 1887, when York was incor- porated into a city. he was appointed the first city solicitor, and served in that office until 1892, a period of five years. In 1895 he was elected a member of the Lower House of the State Legislature, and while filling that posi- tion served on the Judiciary, Local and other committees.

Since his retirement from the Legislature he has devoted his entire attention to the prac- tice of law. In 1902 he became associated in the practice of his profession with Jere S. Black, one of the leaders of the York County Bar, when the firm of Black & Hawkins was formed. This firm has been engaged as counsel in the trial of many of the most im- portant causes before the courts of York coun- ty in recent years. Mr. Hawkins served as secretary of the Historical Society of York County, and was one of the foremost of its members to make that society an active and useful organization. It was largely through

plan to build up a museum and library, which is found in a large room on the third floor of the court house. His efforts in endeavoring to advance the interests of the institution have met the entire approbation of the board of trustees and members.

Mr. Hawkins was married Oct. 4, 1887, to Lizzie V. Birmingham, of California. They have one son, Eldred B., a graduate of the York Collegiate Institute, and now a student at Swarthmore College.

The ancestors of Mr. Hawkins on his father's side were English and included the Chalk and Thompson families of Maryland, the Chalk family locating in the early Colonial times on Winter's Run, about sixteen miles from the Pennsylvania line, and exercising con- siderable local influence in their day. Nicholas Hawkins, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, settled at Elk Ridge Landing, Md., shortly before the Revolution. His son John became a prominent citizen of Harford county, which he represented in the Legislature of Maryland. Dr. John A. Hawkins, son of John and father of Charles A. Hawkins, was born in Harford county, June 30, 1831, and after graduating from the medical department of the University of Maryland, in 1852, spent one year as a physician in Baltimore county. In 1854 he moved to Fawn Grove, where he was successfully engaged in the practice of his profession until he retired, about twelve years ago. Dr. Hawkins is one of the repre- sentative men in the lower end of York county, and has been prominently identified with the material growth and development of Fawn township. He was married in 1855 to Han- nah A. Jones, daughter of Asa Jones, of Fawn township, and granddaughter of Isaac Jones, one of the earliest settlers in the vicinity of Fawn Grove, and a member of the Society of Friends. Dr. Vallie Hawkins, of Fawn Grove, a graduate of Baltimore Medical College, is an only brother of Charles A., and enjoys an ex- tended practice in his chosen profession, be- sides being much interested in farming ac- cording to the more modern methods.

HON. ROBERT J. LEWIS, ex-member of Congress and a leading attorney and busi- ness man of York, is maintaining the traditions of his family in a successful public and profes- sional career. The Lewises have ranked among the old and influential residents of this section

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

of the State for many years, and many of the in 1903, and at present is serving as chair- family have become eminent as jurists, and made their mark in the business world.

Melchinger Robert Lewis, father of Rob- ert J., was perhaps best known as a manufac- turer of agricultural implements, although he was also interested in a shoe factory and had other business interests. He was born at Dover, York county, and lived there until 1871, in that year removing to York, where he died April 29, 1888, before he was fifty years old. He was active in the affairs of his day, and while York was still a borough he was nomi- nated for the position of chief burgess. Being a strong Republican he was defeated, but only by a small vote, though the town was over- whelmingly Democratic. Mr. Lewis was the last sealer of weights and measures for York county under the old law.

Melchinger R. Lewis married Justina Maul, daughter of Jacob Maul, a farmer of Jackson township, York county, whose ancestors came from the Palatinate. Mrs. Lewis, who sur- vives her husband, was born Jan. 19, 1842. Eight children were born to them, five of whom survive, the deceased being Elmer Clay and Rebecca Mary, who died in infancy, and Rush Webster, who died Dec. 24, 1893, in his seventeenth year. Of the living: Samuel S. is an attorney at law and postmaster of the city of York; Melchinger O., is assistant super- intendent of the York Manufacturing Com- pany ; Laura J. is at home; Anna J. is a grad- uate of the York high school and of the State Normal School at Millersville, and is now en- gaged in teaching; and Robert J. is the subject of this sketch.

man of the teachers' committee. From 1895 to 1897 he served as city solicitor of York. In 1896 he was the Republican candidate for mayor of the City of York, and was finally de- clared defeated by a vote of 17, although un- prejudiced people were free to assert that he had been elected. Two and a half years later, in the fall of 1898, he was partially vindicated, the city (although then Democratic) giving him a majority of 896 against Hon. E. D. Ziegler, by whom, however, he was defeated in the district, for Congress, Mr. Lewis hav- ing been put on the Republican ticket only six weeks before the election. In 1900, with H. N. Gitt as an opponent, Mr. Lewis was elected representative in Congress of what was then the Nineteenth Congressional District, com- posed of Adams, Cumberland and York coun- ties, by a majority of 986, though President Mckinley lost the district by 1,495 votes. In this campaign the city of York, which be- tween 1898 and 1900 had added to it the Twelfth and Thirteenth wards having Demo- cratic majorities aggregating about 250, gave Mr. Lewis a majority of 1,257, and a full vindication.

In addition to meeting the demands of a large legal practice, Mr. Lewis is interested in a number of business enterprises. He is prominent in the fraternal orders, belonging to York Lodge, No. 266, F. & A. M .; he also belongs to Codorus Council, Jr. O. U. A. M .; the B. P. O. E .; Knights of Malta; Knights of the Mystic Circle; Knights of Pythias; Heptasophs; M. W. A .; P. O. S. of A .; and other organizations.

Robert J. Lewis was born Dec. 30, 1864, Mr. Lewis was married May 17, 1893, to Miss Anna C. Beeler, daughter of George D. Beeler, a farmer of West Manchester town- ship, who now lives retired in York. Mr. Beeler married Elizabeth Sultzbach, daughter of Frederick Sultzbach, an ex-member of the Legislature. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis: Elizabeth, Aug. 29, 1897; George Robert, Aug. 31, 1900; Marian Justina, March 5, 1902. Mrs. Lewis is an ac- tive member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. in Dover, and received his early education in the public schools there and in the York high school. His legal training was gained in the Yale Law School, from which he was gradu- ated in 1891, being first admitted to practice in the courts of Connecticut. He was admitted to practice in the York county courts Aug. 3, 1891, and later to the Supreme court, and un- til December, 1900, he maintained an office with the late A. N. Green. He has always been interested in local affairs, as well as in the broader matters affecting the general wel- MELCHINGER O. LEWIS, consulting Sanitary Engineer, is also engaged in the fare, and in 1893 was elected a member of the board of school control from the Ninth ward plumbing, steam heating and tinning business of York; he was re-elected in 1897 and again at No. 255 West York street, York, Pa. He

BIOGRAPHICAL

is a native of this county, born in Dover, July York, Feb. 17, 1874, son of Melchinger R. and 14, 1868, son of Melchinger R. and Justina (Maul) Lewis.

Mr. Lewis received his education in the public schools of York city, and upon leaving school he apprenticed himself to Hantz & Jes- sop to learn the trade of plumbing, steam fitting etc. He completed his apprenticeship and re- mained with that firm until 1890, when he er- gaged in business in the same line for himself in partnership with H. H. Haker, the firm do- ing business under the name of Haker & Lewis. This partnership lasted for two years when Mr. Haker withdrew, and Mr. Lewis continued alone until 1898, when he closed out to accept a position as foreman of the sheet metal de- partment of the York Manufacturing Company -a position he held but one year when he was promoted to the position of assistant superin- tendent, thus continuing until April 28, 1906, when he resigned. He had determined to en- gage once more in business for himself, and his many years of valuable experience have thoroughly equipped him for first class work in his chosen line. He employs seven experienced workmen, and his place of business is a model up-to-date plant, where all work entrusted to him receives careful attention. He is energetic and progressive, and a most successful future is a safe prediction for him.

On Jan. 1, 1891, Mr. Lewis was united in marriage with Sarah J. Ammon, daughter of William and Mary (Hawkins) Ammon. Two children have blessed this union: Melchinger J., born June 2, 1892, and Mary R., born Dec. 8, 1893. Mr. Lewis was made a Mason in 1891, and is past master of Zeredatha Lodge, No. 451, F. & A. M .; is a member of Howell Chapter, No. 199, R. A. M .; a charter member of Gethsemane Commandery, No. 75, K. T .; member of Harrisburg Consistory; and of Zembo Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. On Dec. 18, 1890, he was made a member of Humane Lodge, I. O. O. F .; and he is a charter member of Linden Camp No. 5375, M. W. A. He has been active as a member of Vigilant Fire Com- pany No. I, York, and is in every movement .for the good and well-being of his city. Mrs. Lewis is an active worker in Union Lutheran Church, and is one of the popular teachers in the Sunday-school.

SAMUEL S. LEWIS, attorney at law and postmaster of the city of York, was born in

Justina (Maul) Lewis. He received his edu- cation in the public schools of his native city, graduating from the York high school in the class of 1893. Immediately upon his gradu- ation he secured a civil service position in the York (Pa.) postoffice, which position he held until Oct. 1, 1898, serving under Hiram Young and D. A. Minnich. He was then transferred to the Money Order division of the Washing- ton (D. C.) postoffice, and within a short time was promoted to one of the most responsible positions in the division. Meantime he entered the Law Department of the Columbian Univer- sity, in 1898, and graduated from that school after a three years' course in June, 1901, on September 4th of the same year being admitted as a member of the Supreme Court of the Dis- trict of Columbia; in the following January (1902) he was admitted to practice before the several courts of York county.

Mr. Lewis acted in the capacity of private secretary to his brother, Hon. R. J. Lewis, when he represented the 19th Pennsylvania District in the LVIIth Congress and in a like capacity to Hon. D. F. Lafean, who repre- sented the 20th Pennsylvania District in the LVIIIth and LVIXth Congresses.

If Mr. Lafean has a hobby it is the im- provement of the postal service in his district, and as his secretary Mr. Lewis acquired such intimate knowledge of the conditions at the York postoffice, that his selection for the post- mastership was almost inevitable when the time for a change came. He was not a candidate for the position, but his practical experience in the work, together with his thorough under- standing of the needs of the office gained in his several years' association with Mr. Lafean in Washington, made his appointment. on Feb. 7, 1906, particularly appropriate. The York Dispatch of Feb. 7th had the following to say, regarding his appointment : "It was Mr. Lewis who aided Congressman Lafean in giv- ing the people of York and Adams counties such excellent mail facilities in the rural dis- tricts as they enjoy to-day, and next to Con- gressman Lafean Mr. Lewis is regarded by the rural mail carriers and the patrons of each route as having done more for them than any other one man in the Twentieth Congressional District."

Mr. Lewis is the youngest postmaster York has ever had, he having been only thirty-one

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

years old when he was appointed, and the and General Hays, the commander of Mr. young Republicans of the county and district Spangler's brigade, was taken prisoner. Al- though in the forefront of every battle, Mr. Spangler was unharmed in each. The term of enlistment having expired, the regiment re- turned home and was disbanded. were much gratified over the choice. More- over his many friends among the old soldiers were also well pleased, for in his capacity of private secretary he met many of Mr. Lafean's constituents, whose universal good-will he ob- tained by his unfailing courtesy and sincere work in their behalf. He entered upon the duties of the office feeling that he had the re- spect and good wishes of a large following.

EDWARD W. SPANGLER, a leading lawyer and journalist of York, was born in Paradise (now Jackson) township, York coun- ty, Pa., Feb. 23, 1846. While a lad in the country he performed boy's work on his wid- owed mother's farm, and during four months in the winter attended the free school of the dis- trict. Never relishing agricultural labors, he abandoned them at the first opportunity, and at the age of thirteen became a student in the York County Academy, of which the Great Commoner, Thaddeus Stevens, was once the principal. After a year's study he entered as a clerk one of the leading dry-goods houses of York. In August, 1862, at the age of sixteen, he responded with others to the call of Presi- dent Lincoln for nine months' volunteers, and enlisted, becoming a private in Co. K, 130th P. V. I. After six weeks service in the Army of the Potomac, he received his first baptism of fire at the battle of Antietam, in which his com- pany lost in killed and wounded one-third of the number engaged. Mr. Spangler fired the eighty rounds with which he was equipped, and finding use for more, took ten rounds from the cartridge box of a dead comrade, eight of which he discharged before his regiment was relieved. During the engagement the stock of his rifle was shattered by a Confederate bullet.

At the battle of Fredericksburg his division, the Third of the Second Corps, made the initial and sanguinary charge on Marye's Heights, where his colonel was killed at the first fire. At Chancellorsville his Division was thrown into the breach to arrest the victorious Confederates in their headlong pursuit of the routed Elev- enth Corps. During that terrible Saturday night, May 2, 1863, his company was fighting in the front line on the plank road on which Stonewall Jackson, the same night, was mor- tally wounded. The following morning Gen- eral Berry, of Maine, who commanded a Divis- ion of the 3d Corps, was killed in his Company,

Upon his return to civil life he was ap- pointed Deputy United States Marshal of York county. He held this office but a few weeks, when his leg was broken by the kick of an abandoned Confederate horse, and being inca- pacitated for active duty he resigned. Upon convalescence he resumed his studies at the York County Academy, and also registered as a student of law. After attending a course of lectures in the law department of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, he was admitted to the York Bar, March 4, 1867. He soon acquired a very lucrative practice, which he has since retained. He has practiced in the neighboring county courts, in the United States District Court, and in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, and is an active practitioner in the State Supreme Court during the week appointed for the argument of York County cases. He has studiously eschewed politics, save his filling the office of president of the York Republican Club in 1881, to which he was elected without his knowledge, and which position he subsequently resigned, having joined the independent wing of his party. In 188I he was one of the principal promoters in the building of York's beautiful Opera House, and superintended its first year's management. He has been active in furthering local progress and developing home industries. He has also taken an active part in the suburban develop- ment of York, and laid out his real estate with streets extending from North George street to Cottage Hill, which section is known as Fairmount, and is now made accessible by two handsome iron bridges spanning Codorus Creek.

In January, 1882, Mr. Spangler purchased the York Daily and York Weekly and the ex- tensive job-printing establishment connected therewith. With the assistance of his two able publishing partners, he at once introduced new features and methods into the conduct of the . business and infused new life into the publica- tions, resulting in a very large increase in their circulation, carrying them to the front of suc- cessful inland journals. He is president of the publishing company and owns a controlling in- terest.

Edward M.Spangler

BIOGRAPHICAL

In January. 1886, he organized the Span- Spangler, who enlisted when only sixteen years gler Manufacturing Company, of which he is president, a corporation organized under the laws of this State. The company manufact- ures a general line of agricultural implements, which on account of their superior excellence are sold generally throughout the United States.

In September, 1873, he married Mary Frances Miller, and the union has been blessed with two sons and two daughters. He pos- sesses great energy and executive ability, is a sound and able counsellor, and a witty, pun- gent and forcible writer. [The above from the Biographical Album of prominent Pennsyl- vanians, 1889.]

Mr. Spangler was principally instrumental in procuring, after a bitter contest with a trio of graft conspirators, the adoption of the beau- tiful and classic design of the stately shaft erected in Penn Park to the memory of the Soldiers and Sailors of York County engaged in the great Civil war. He is attorney for the First National Bank, York, ex-director of the Farmers' National Bank, York, a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the York County Historical Society, of the York Society of the Alumni of the Pennsylvania University, of the Pennsylvania German Society, of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revo- lution, vice-president of the York Athletic As- sociation and president of the York Automo- bile Club. His children are : Louise M., wife of Charles C. Frick, vice-president of the Security Title & Trust Company, York; Juliet S. Span- gler ; Edward W. Spangler, Jr., dealer in build- ers' supplies and materials; and Robert S. Spangler, attorney at law.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 11

Author: Prowell, George R. Publication date: 1907 Publisher: J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1390

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1390