History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 114

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

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BIOGRAPHICAL

one of its best citizens. To George B. Thomas and his wife these children were born: John, Jacob, Martin, Henry K., Mary C., Elizabeth, Maggie, Luther (deceased), and George (de- ceased). In religion Mr. Thomas was a de- vout member and liberal supporter of the Luth- eran Church, in which service he was very ac- tive. Although no politician Mr. Thomas' sympathies were with the Democratic party and for twelve years was a justice of the peace. He was also a school director. Mrs. Thomas died in the year 1882, aged eighty-three years.

Henry K. Thomas received his education in the common schools of Adams and York counties and as soon as he was old enough learned the trade of blacksmith. After serv- ing his apprenticeship he established a shop at Thomasville, and in 1867 built a dwelling which has been his permanent residence ever since. Mr. Thomas has been very successful in his chosen trade and after years of hard labor he decided, in 1895, that he would retire, having accumulated a handsome competency, Mr. Thomas' shop was one of the best stands between York and Abbottstown on the York pike.

In 1868 Henry K. Thomas married Leah latter of whom, with his brothers, settled in Spangler. daughter of George Spangier, the what is known as Spangler's Valley, Jackson township. No children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas. In religion they were both active members of the Reformed Church. Mr. Thomas has long supported the principles of the. Democratic party, as did his father before him, but has never aspired to public office. He has also ever striven to continue the honorable methods and name established by his father, and in this, as in his other efforts, has been signally successful. He has hosts of friends in every section of the county, who have been attracted to him by his strong, fearless and resolute character and by the unswerving in- tegrity of his conduct.

Mrs. Thomas died Jan. 21, 1905, aged fifty-seven years, five months and twenty-one days, and was buried at Wolf's church, West Manchester township. She was generally known throughout the township, having countless friends who held her in the highest esteem as a true neighbor. Many were her benefactions of which the public knew nothing, and she was liberal in her support of worthy charitable organizations. She was a strong,

good woman-a worthy companion of a sub- stantial, true man-and her death was a per- manent loss to the community.

SAMUEL F. GREGORY, one of the best known business men of York, Pa., who is en- gaged in the hat business on South George street, that city, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 13, 1874, son of the late William and Margaret C. (Smith) Gregory, of Philadel- phia.

Mr. S. F. Gregory attended the public schools of Philadelphia, after which he was em- ployed by John Wanamaker in the hat depart- ment of his Philadelphia store. There he re- mained about four years, at the end of which time he accepted a position as hat salesman in a wholesale manufacturing house for which he traveled through the eastern States. The next eight years were spent in charge of the hat department of Wanamaker & Brown. He then came to York, and on April 3, 1905, en- gaged in business on his own account. Through his conscientious business methods and his fair treatment of customers, Mr. Gregory has built up one of the best businesses in his line in the city, and his trade is increas- ing steadily.

Mr. Gregory married M. Isabella Mc- Cleery, of Philadelphia, and they, with their two children, reside at No. 425 Lincoln street. Mr. Gregory is a member of Covenant Lodge, No. 161, F. & A. M. ; the York Lodge, No. 47, I. O. O. F .; Washington Camp, No. 655, P. O. S. of A .; St. John's Assembly, No. 28, A. O. M. P .; and the P. H. C., No. 570.

EDWIN T. BENTZ. The government of York county is in the hands of as efficient a body of men as have ever honored the different offices in the county courthouse. All had ac- quired a valuable experience in the private walks of life before assuming public office and were of high character and standing in their different communities. Edwin T. Bentz, as- sumed the office of Recorder of Deeds on the first Monday of 1903 at the behest of the Dem- ocratic voters expressed in the election of the previous fall.

Mr. Bentz is a native of York county, where the family have been worthy and lead- ing farmers for the most part in North Codorus township for the past hundred years. His grandfather, Michael Bentz, was a hale and

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

hearty man even up to his death at eighty-two years. This likewise was the advanced age reached by Peter, Mr. Bentz' father. Both passed their lives on farms in North Codorus township. Peter Bentz married Sarah Tyson, daughter of Henry Tyson, who passed away while on his North Codorus farm at the age of eighty-seven. They had three sons, Frank- lin T., a well known farmer of North Codorus township; Michael T., who likewise resides in that township, and Edwin T.

Born on the old homestead in North Co- dorus township, Nov. 26, 1856, Edwin T. Bentz grew up with the advantages of a good home, whose head believed that boys and work made a very proper mixture. Lessons of econ- · omy, industry and thrift taught in those early days yet cling to him, and are the index to the success which has followed him through life. He received an ordinary country school edu- cation and in his young manhood was appren- ticed to the carpenter's trade, a vocation which he has followed at different times since. He worked at his trade during the first fifteen years of his career, and then returned to the occupa- tion honored by his ancestry, purchasing a 40- acre farm in North Codorus township. After a decade there he entered the carriage factory of S. E. Baily & Co., at York, as a body- maker, and it was while engaged there in No- vember, 1902, that he was elected on the Dem- ocratic ticket to the office of recorder. There is a seeming inconsistency in this change of oc- cupation from a mechanical to a clerical life, and yet Mr. Bentz early demonstrated the en- tire wisdom of the change.

The wife of Mr. Bentz' youth is now de- ceased. Her maiden name was Barbara Mes- sersmith, and her father was a worthy! farmer of North Codorus township. Eight children were born to her, five of whom sur- vive, as follows: Chauncey F., farmer ; Anna K., Mrs. Charles Harold, North Codorus ; Ber- tha, wife of Andrew G. Myers, who is in the employ of the S. Morgan Smith Sons Co., at York ; Claudie, wife of Daniel Krout, a farmer, of Springfield township; and Lydia J., now Mrs. Allen N. Moss, of North Codorus. The mother of these children died in May of 1889, and on the last day of the following year he married her sister, Sarah Messersmith. Three children have been born of this union: Bar- bara, who died in infancy ; and Ada and Peter Bryant.

The life of Edwin T. Bentz has not been a spectacular one. He has accepted opportuni- ties and issues as they have been presented, failing in many, succeeding in some-the story of average humanity. But amid it all it can be truly said of him that he has kept his integrity intact and his honor unsullied. He has been a lifelong worker in the Reformed Church, with membership in St. Paul's of Stoverstown, acting at different periods as deacon and elder of that organization. His fraternal connection is with the P. O. S. A.

JOSEPH WILT, who owns and occupies a fertile, well-cultivated farm in Fairview township, is at the present time acting in the capacity of school director. He was born in Fishing Creek Valley, March 2, 1849, son of William Wilt.

Michael Wilt, the grandfather of Joseph, was a farmer of Manchester borough, Man- chester township, where he died, the father of these children : Henry; William; John, of Perry county; Daniel, of Kansas; Catherine, the wife of John Prowell; Susan, the wife of James Prowell, and Lydia A., the wife of John Zeigler, of York. William Wilt received a common-school education, and on attaining maturity commenced farming in Fishing Creek Valley, later working on Dr. Young's farm in Cumberland county. He returned to York county, and farmed property then owned by Peter Bricker, now known as the Moser place. He then located at Slate Hill, returning to Fishing Creek Valley in 1861 and purchasing the Michael Smith farm of 133 acres in 1865. This he operated for a number of years, greatly improving it and building upon it a residence in which he lived until 1885. He then lived retired for a number of years in New Cumber- land, prior to his death, April 2, 1903, at the age of seventy-nine. William Wilt married Sarah Smith, daughter of Michael and Cather- ine Smith, and she died in July, 1862, being interred, as was her husband, at Mt. Olivet cemetery, Fairview township. Mr. Wilt was a Republican in political faith. He was a faithful member of the Lutheran Church of Fairview township. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilt were: John, who was killed by an elevator at Steelton, in April, 1884; Jo- seph ; Harry, who is in the furniture and under- taking business at Steelton, Dauphin county, married a Miss Gross; Julia, the wife of Lewis

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Kilmore, lives in New Cumberland, and Ella, the wife of Jacob LeFevre, also lives in New Cumberland.

Joseph Wilt attended the township schools until seventeen years of age, and then com- menced to work for his father on the home farm. In 1869 he married Sarah J. Beckley, daughter of Jesse and Susan (Hare) Beckley, of Fairview township. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wilt located on his father's farm, and then removed to Mr. Beckley's farm, where he remained four years. In 1874 they returned to the paternal homestead, remaining there three years, after which he passed a short time in Kansas. He returned to Pennsylvania and located in New Cumberland, Cumberland coun- ty, where he remained three years. In 1884 he purchased his father's farm, where he has since been engaged in farming and butchering, attending the Harrisburg markets. Mr. Wilt is one of the substantial business men and good citizens of the township, and is held in the highest esteem by his neighbors and associates generally.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilt have had these children : Russel, who died when. thirteen months old; Susan, died when seven weeks old; one infant, deceased; Adam, who died when nineteen days old, and Lloyd B., who attended Shippensburg Normal school, from which he was graduated in 1900, taught school at the Hickory Grove school, Fairview township, and is now assist- ing his father on the farm. In politics Mr. Wilt is a Republican, and is serving his town- ship most acceptably as a school director.

Jesse Beckley, Mrs. Wilt's father, was born in Baltimore county, Md., as were her mother and herself. He came to Pennsylvania, in 1858,, and settled in Fairview township, where he farmed upon property which he there pur- chased. He was a prominent farmer and a very active man, living in retirement for sev- eral years previous to his death, which oc- curred in 1897, at the age of eighty-one years. His wife is still living, aged seventy-six. Eight children were born to this worthy couple, viz. : Sarah J., Mary E., Arietta, William H., John Q., David, Elmer and Susan.

MARTIN HOKE, M. D., physician and surgeon of Spring Grove, Jackson township, is one of the leading physicians of the com- munity, and was born upon the homestead farm in the township named, Dec. 31, 1859, son of Henry and Anna ( Hershey) Hoke.

Michael Hoke, grandfather of Dr. Hoke, was born in York county, and was a substantial farmer and hotel keeper. His hostelry was widely known and largely patronized by the old settlers, and is remembered by them to this day for its kindly hospitality. He lived to be eighty-four years of age. The maternal grand- father was Henry Hershey, his daughter, mother of Dr. Hoke, being born on his farm, one-half miles east of Spring Grove, Jackson township, in 1819; she died in 1884, and was buried in the old Pidgeon Hill church- yard.

Henry Hoke was born in Jackson township, in 1818, and died in 1892. The greater por- tion of his life was spent in farming, but in 1882 he purchased the store property in Nash- ville. In 1883 he moved to the Nashville prop- erty, where he and one of the younger sons (George) engaged in the general mercantile business, which was continued until his death. The old Hoke homestead, containing 118 acres, was located three miles northeast of Spring Grove, in the rich valley of Jackson township. This property was originally improved by Hen- ry Hoke, and after his death was purchased hy George E. Sprenkle. Twelve children were born to Henry Hoke and his wife, eight sons and four daughters, all of whom lived to ma- turity : Elizabeth N., married E. B. Sprenkle ; William, a farmer; Emanuel H., a resident of Fulton county, Ill .; Henry, also of Fulton county ; Sarah, who married Peter Bott, and resides in York county; Eliza, who married Wesley Little; Jacob, contractor and carpen- ter, residing at Thomasville, York county, Pa .; Joseph, deceased in 1882; Amanda, who mar- ried Felix Bentzle (died in 1905), and is a resi- dent of York county ; Martin ; George, at pres- ent a prosperous merchant of Nashville, Pa .; Michael a resident of McSherrystown, and a farmer of Adams county.

Dr. Martin Hoke was reared upon the farm, attending the district schools in the winter, and there laying the foundations of an excellent education. Later, he was a student at the York Academy for two years, afterward tak- ing up the study of medicine and reading with Dr. John Weist of Jackson township. When prepared, he attended Jefferson Medical Col- lege for three years, from which he was grad- uated in the spring of 1881. After his grad- uation, Dr. Hoke located at Spring Grove, where he has since continued in general and successful practice. In 1886, he opened a drug

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

store, and conducts it in conjunction with his brothers are to be found there at the present practice. time

In November, 1884, Dr. Hoke married Harriet Swartz, of Spring Grove, daughter of Deterich Swartz, and Anna (Hoke) Swartz, of Adams county, Pa. They have had no chil- dren. Dr. Hoke is a member of York County Medical Society, the State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In addi- tion to his other interests, Dr. Hoke is a stock- holder and director of the First National Bank, of Spring Grove, having been connected with it since its organization. He is an excellent, scholarly physician and thorough business man, whose friends are to be found throughout the entire county. Taking a deep interest in edu- cational matters, Dr. Hoke has served upon the school board for three years, and was a member of the town council for the same length of time. He and his wife are prominent mem- bers of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. They re- side in a pleasant home, where the Doctor's office is also located, and there they dispense a warm and gracious hospitality to their many friends.

SAMUEL RIDER. The status of every city, town and community is determined almost entirely by the character of their business men, their reliability, enterprise, integrity and fidelity to contracts and agreements, and their loyalty and public spirit as citizens. York county is specially favored in the class of men who make up its quota of business factors, and of these men Samuel Rider holds high prestige as a suc- cessful and enterprising manufacturer and as a citizen of sterling character, so that he is emi- nently entitled to consideration in a publication of this character. Mr. Rider is a native of York county, born in the city of York, then a small village, May 17, 1836.

Christian Rider, his great-grandfather, passed his entire life in Germany, where he was a shingle manufacturer and a scion of one of the sterling old families of the great German empire. Three of his brothers emigrated from the Fatherland to America in the Colonial era and all served as soldiers in the Continental line during the war of the Revolution. After the close of the war they all settled near Han- over, York county, Pa., so that the family name has been linked with the annals of that section ever since the very early pioneer epoch, while not a few of the descendants of these

Samuel Rider, son of Christian, likewise passed his entire life in Germany, but his son Christian came to America and joined his rel- atives in York county.

Christian Rider made the long and tedious voyage on a sailing vessel and landed in the city of Baltimore, being then twenty-five years of age. He had received good educational ad- vantages in the Fatherland and had there learned the trade of shoemaker, so that he was well fortified to fight the battle of life on his arrival in the United States. Soon thereafter he wedded Miss Mary Summer, to whom he had become affianced in his native land, and who had come to America on the same ship with him. After their marriage they located in Shrewsbury township, York county, where he was engaged at his trade for the ensuing two years, at the expiration of which he lo- cated in York, the county seat, where he fol- lowed the same vocation for five years. He then purchased land in York township, on the Baltimore pike, and turned his attention to its improvement and cultivation, developing a good farm and becoming one of the substantial citizens of the township. He located on this farm in 1836 and continued to reside there until 1868, when he retired from active labor and returned to the city of York, where he passed the remainder of his long and useful life, his death occurring in 1887, while his cherished and devoted wife passed away two years previously, both being laid to rest in the Catholic cemetery of the county seat. They were zealous and consistent communicants of the Catholic Church, in whose faith they reared their children, concerning whom is offered a brief record at this juncture: Ignatius and Henry both died in York township, being farmers by vocation; Samuel, of this review, was the next in order of birth; John died in the city of York, having been a tailor during the greater portion of his active career; Peter is a resident of York, where he is living retired ; Mary is the wife of George Dumler, of Balti- more, Md .; Adam resides in York, where he is a grocer, and George, the youngest of the family, when last located, was a resident of Philadelphia.

Samuel Rider was reared on the old home- stead, in 'York township, and there he contin- ued to attend the common schools until he had

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attained the age of seventeen years, assisting for several years thereafter in the work of the home farm. He then learned the miller's trade, and for five years was thus employed in the old Gotwalt mill, in York township. Thereafter he was engaged in farming until 1887, when he established his present flourishing enterprise -the manufacture of cigar boxes-which in- . dustry meets a large local demand, as York county is a prominent center for the growing and manufacture of tobacco. He purchased the old Gotwalt mill property, previously men- tioned, and on the site of the mill erected his present factory which is 26x36 feet in dimen- sions and two and one-half stories in height. The plant is equipped with the latest improved machinery and accessories, while, in connection with the manufacture of the cigar boxes, is maintained an excellent plant in which is exe- cuted all the incidental printing on boxes, as well as the turning out of labels, stationery, etc. Employment is afforded to a corps of several skilled workmen and in the box factory about one thousand cases represent the average an- nual output, the product being utilized almost entirely by the cigar manufacturers in the county. Mr. Rider owns thirteen acres of land, and his commodious and attractive resi- dence, as well as his factory, is located on this tract, the balance being devoted to general farming. He is a careful and conservative business man and one whose reputation is un- assailable, and through his energy and good management has established a large and profit- able trade. In politics he is found arrayed as a stanch supporter of the principles and poli- cies of the Democratic party, and both he and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church at Paradise.

In 1862 Mr. Rider was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Decker, who was born and reared in York county, being a daughter of Elizabeth Decker; she died in 1866, leaving one son, William Henry, who is now a cigar- maker and barber in East York. On June 27, 1868, Mr. Rider consummated a second mar- riage, being then united to Miss Barbara Sheaf- fer, who was born and reared in York town- ship, where her father, Jacob Sheaffer, was a representative farmer. In conclusion the fol- lowing data are recorded concerning the chil- dren of the second marriage: Ida remains at the parental home; Alfred died at the age of twenty-two years; Mary is the wife of Charles -

Geinrich, of Green Hill, York county ; Harry is a cigar-box manufacturer at Red Lion; and Berthin May remains a member of the home circle.

ROBERT BORTNER HYSON, owner of extensive canneries in Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia, was born in Hopewell township, York county, Feb. 28, 1853, son of John and Mar- garet (Miller) Hyson. . The paternal grand- father was Robert Hyson, who married a Miss Bortner, and they were the parents of three sons-Robert, Archibald and John. The ma- ternal grandfather was John Miller, and his wife's name was Trout. To them were born the following: Samuel; David; V. Trout : Henry; John; Mary, Mrs. James An- derson ; Eliza, Mrs. David Maffet; Ann, Mrs. ambrose McGugin. John and Margaret ( Mil- ler ) Hyson had a large family, viz. ; Robert B .; John M., of Red Lion ; Archibald, of Chicago; David F .. of Hampstead, Md .; Pleasant C., of Omaha, Neb .; Jane Ann, wife of Harvey H. Anderson, of East Hopewell; Elizabeth M., Mrs. Clinton M. Johnson, of East Hopewell; Sarah M., wife of Daniel M. Brenneman, of Hopewell; Alice, for nearly twenty-five years a teacher in the Indian schools of New Mexico; Cordelia E., wife of Prof. Fairchilds, of Ohio, formerly principal of the Ada State Normal School and now a professor in Crawford Col- lege ; Emma M., Mrs. John A. Wilson, of East Hopewell; Gertrude; Bertha, Mrs. Payne Manifold, of East Hopewell, and Clara, who died while a schoolgirl in 1888. John Hyson died in 1892, but his wife survives him at the age of eighty-two, and resides in East Hope- well.

Robert B. Hyson was educated in the pub- lic schools of East Hopewell township and at the Stewartstown Collegiate Institute. After he left school he taught for one session at Mt. Pleasant, Pa., where in 1876 he entered busi- ness, continuing thus until 1879. In that year he moved to Gatchellville and was a merchant there until 1887, when he disposed of his es- tablishment, and bought a business at Bridge- ton. In 1893 he added a cannery to the orig- inal retail business, and in 1900 erected a creamery. These various branches have been very successfully operated, and Mr. Hyson is now managing the largest concern in Fawn township. He also operates a large cannery at Hopeside, Va., where immense quantities of

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

vegetables are put up, besides dealing in oys- ters and fishı.

Nathaniel Leber was sent to the public schools in Lower Windsor, Hellam and York In politics a Republican, Mr. Hyson was in 1882 elected justice of the peace for Fawn township and has filled that office with the greatest credit for twenty-four consecutive years ; he has also been postmaster at Bridge- ton for ten years. Moreover, he has outside townships, in which section of the State his father lived during his boyhood. The boy was never able to attend more than three months in the year, and often less, as his help was needed at home. His first teacher was Jacob Wallace, and his last, Adam Geesey. He left business interests, being a director of the Hart- . school when he was eighteen, and until his ley Mutual Fire Insurance Co., of York. He is a member of the Chanceford Presbyterian Church.

On April 15, 1880, Robert B. Hyson was united in marriage to Mary Elizabeth Markey, of Shrewsbury township. To them have been born the following children: Blanche, who married Harry B. Reese, of Northumberland county, Va., and is the mother of Mary E., Robert H., and John M .; Olive M., who holds an important position with her father; Mantz A. and Margie M., at school. Mrs. Elizabeth M. Hyson is a daughter of Jacob and Eliza (Trout) Markey, and the other children in the family were: Franklin, of South Carolina ; Amos, of Wyoming ; Elmer ; Newton, of York ; Riley, deceased; Annie, Mrs. John Thompson, of York; Ettie, Mrs. Wilson Rehmeyer, of Shrewsbury township; Rebecca Taylor; and Margaret Pyle, deceased.

NATHANIEL LEBER was born June 28, 1849, in Windsor township, on a farm near Canadochley church. His parents were Ja- cob and Eliza ( Paules) Leber.

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 114

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