History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 27

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

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James Gemmill, son of William, married Sarah Wiley: their children were Mary, Jen- nette, William, Joseph, Margaret, James and Ann. Joseph was a soldier in the war of 1812 one mile east of Cross Roads borough. He in Capt. William Allison's company.

was the progenitor of all the York county Gemmills, a family which multiplied rapidly and is now scattered throughout the United States. In some lines it now reaches to the eighth generation. He took out warrants for and sold land to a great extent in this county. By occupation he was a farmer, and also a storekeeper from 1760 to 1780. In 1767 he was one of six commissioners appointed to erect Hopewell township from Shrewsbury township. In 1768 he was a member of the board of county commissioners who erected the first jail in York county. He was an officer in the French and Indian war, and on Nov. 4. 1756, was commissioned a lieutenant and served under Capt. Andrew Findley, who at that time commanded a company of 106 men in His Majesty's army. His wife, whose name was Jennette, was born in 1725. They both died in March. 1789, and were buried in Old

Guinston graveyard. They had a family of seven children, namely : John, Margaret, David. Ann, William, James and Robert. Of William and Margaret we have no account. They did not live to become heirs to their father's estate.

Major Robert Gemmill, the youngest child, was born in 1762, and died in 1846. He mar- ried Sarah Smith, daughter of William and Catherine (Campbell) Smith, both of whom came from Scotland and settled about a mile north of Cross Roads, about 1760. Major Gemmill was the father of ten children. Will- iam, the oldest child, was a pupil of Thaddeus Stevens in the York County Academy, was admitted to the York bar in 1818, and died in 1820. Catherine married Capt. James Wal- lace, and had four sons, Robert Gemmill. William, John T. and James W., M. D. Ann married David Wallace; their children were Robert Gemmill, D. D., Mary, Joseph Gemt- mill. James David, Margaret and Andrew. David married Martha Gemmill and had a family of five. Sarah married Moses Rankin and had five children. Margaret married Andrew Wallace; they had no children. Thomas married Mary Ann Caldwell; they had seven children. John married Jane Ann Collins and they had one child.

Ann Gemmill, daughter of William, mar- ried David Wiley, a major in the war of the. Revolution. He was born in 1747. He lived on Mason and Dixon's line, between Stewarts- town and Center Presbyterian Church, where he and his wife are buried. After the war of the Revolution he made several trips to Ire- land, bringing back Irish linen in exchange for some commodity of this country. His daughter Jennette married James Edie. Mar- garet married David Gemmill, of Jolın. His son, David Wiley, inherited the home place. and was in the war of 1812, a lieutenant of the Ist Brigade. 5th Battalion, Pennsylvania . Militia. [In War of 1812, p. 468].

David Gemmill, son of William, born in 1750, married Jane Hepburn. Their children were: William, Jennette, George, Jolin, Mar- garet, Mary, Thomas and Ann.

John Gemmill, the oldest of the family of

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

William and Jennette, born about 1745, died Calister. Two sons were born to them, John in 1798. He was twice married and the father McCalister Genmill, author of this sketch, and William James. The latter married Sue M. Jamison, daughter of Rev. Dr. Samuel Jamison. Their family consists of four sons and one daughter. (8) James Leiper married Sarah Jane Freeland. They had five daugh- ters and two sons. He and his wife and two daughters reside at Freeland, Baltimore Co., Md., where he started in the merchant busi- ness sixty years ago. He was born April 15, 1817, and married March 1. 1849. He has always been a stanch Whig and Republican. On Jan. 21, 1851, during the administration of Zachary Taylor and Nathan K. Hall, P. M. G., he was appointed postmaster at Free- land. Md., and has held the same continuously ever since. This makes Mr. Gemmill the old- est postmaster at this time in the United States in point of service and probably in years also. (9) Sarah married William Kirkwood Thompson. They had three sons and one daughter. (10) Jennette married William Wallace, son of James and Catharine (Gem- mill) Wallace. Two sons and two daughters were born to this union. of twelve children. His first wife was Agnes Wallace, daughter of James and Agnes Wal- lace, and their children were Margaret, Will- iam, James, Jennette, John, David, Agnes and Ann. By his second wife, Elizabeth, were born, Elizabeth, Mary, Jean, Robert and Sarahı. Of this family, Margaret, born in 1770, married Major John Collins, and had ten children. William married Martha Edie, and they had ten children; their oldest son, Jolin, was a soldier in the war of 1812, from Sept. 3, 1814, to March 5, 1815, a private in the company of Capt. James Mccullough, 5th Battalion, Ist Brigade, under command of Major McFarland. [War of 1812, p. 287]. Jennette married William Allison, and twelve children were born to them( William Allison was captain of a company, in the war of 1812, which was stationed for a time in York. James married Betsy McPherson ; their family numbered eleven. David married his cousin, Margaret Wiley, and they had nine children. Ann married Benjamin Manifold, of Joseph, and seven children were born to them in York county ; they later moved to Washington The homestead of William Gemmill, Sr., located two miles south of Cross Roads, and purchased by him in 1756, has been in the Gem- mill name ever since. William Gemmill, Sr., and all his family, except his daughter Ann, were buried in the Downing or Old Guinston cemetery. county, Pa. John, grandfather of the writer, was born in 1778 and died in 1861 ; he married Mary Smith, a daughter of Robert and Mary (Leiper) Smith, and a granddaughter of James and Mary Leiper; John Gemmill was universally respected and beloved and was a ruling elder in the Hopewell Presbyterian Church for more than forty years; he was the father of ten children, namely: Mary, Robert, John, Agnes, Martha Eliza, William, Mar- garet, James Leiper, Sarah and Jennette.

JOHN McCALISTER GEMMILL, of East Hopewell township, York county, is in- fluential in its political, business, religious and social circles. He was born on the farm he now operates Jan. 16, 1848.

(I) Mary married Matthew Grove. They had nine children. Their first born, Hepburn Mr. Gemmill received his preliminary education in the public schools of his township, and supplemented it with a course at Pleasant Grove Academy, under Prof. Taggert and Robert H. Smith, the latter afterward becom- ing a distinguished member of the Baltimore (Md.) Bar. When twenty years of age Mr. Gemmill left school and began teaching. He became well and favorably known as an edu- cator, teaching in the public schools and at Murphy's Academy. Mr. Gemmill was also a salaried singer in some of Philadelphia's Grove, was a member of the 87th Pennsyl- vania Volunteers in the Civil war and died in Andersonville prison. (2) Robert married Jane Duncan. They had five sons and four daughters. The four older sons. William, John, Andrew and Smith, were soldiers in the Union army during the Civil war from as many dif- ferent States. (3) John married Mary Ann Earic, of Ohio. They had three sons and two daughters. (4) Agnes married Robert Gem- mill Wallace. They had no children. (6) William married Agnes Proudfit McCalister, leading churches. He had been reared to the daughter of John and Jane ( Proudfit) Mc- life of a farmer, but in 1868 migrated to Rock

John W. Genwill

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BIOGRAPHICAL

Island, Ill., and secured a clerkship in a hard- ware store. It had been his intention to make that city-his home and "grow up with the coun- try," but in 1873, his father having died, he was called home. In 1875 he married Eliza- beth T. Hamilton, who was born and reared in Philadelphia, Pa., and was a lineal descend- ant of Sir William Hamilton, of Scotland. Mrs. Gemmill's ancestors came direct from Lanarkshire, Scotland, to America.

Mr. Gemmill spent the years 1875-76 in Philadelphia, and a portion of this period was engaged in the produce commission business ; he then removed to the homestead, upon which he has since resided. The farm consists of 125 acres, one of the most highly cultivated tracts in his section of the county. He has also greatly interested himself in public affairs, and took a leading part in establishing the first rural free delivery route in York county.

Mr. Gemmill has been very active in Ma- sonic circles in York county, his initiation in 1893 taking place in York Lodge, No. 266, F. & A. M. Later he joined Howell Chapter, No. 199, York; in 1895 Gethsemane Com- mandery , No. 75. York (of which he was elected eminent commander in 1906) ; and in 1902 was admitted and constituted a Noble of the Mystic Shrine in Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Reading, later transferring his membership to Zembo Temple, Harrisburg. He joined the Round Hill Presbyterian Church in East Hopewell township about 1897, and has continuously been one of its most active mem- bers. He has served as trustee since that year, is a teacher and assistant superintendent of the Sunday-school, and has been chorister for the past thirty years. He is a stanch Repub- lican, and for two years he served his township as a careful, interested school director.

To Mr. and Mrs. Gemmill have been born the following named children: Anna E., wife of Rev. C. G. H. Ettlich, pastor of the Hope- well Presbyterian Church, has two children, Olga and Alma; William H., of East Hope- well township, married Mae Manifold, and has two children, Wilma and Robert; Albert V., who for the past several years has been a pro- fessor in the Goldie College, Wilmington, mar- ried Anna F. Smith and they have one child, Elizabeth Evelyn; John M., Jr., is of Phila- delphia, Pa .; Florence attends normal school at West Chester, Pa .; and Roscoe, Chauncey and Norman are at home.

HENRY LUCKING, SR., a retired brick and lime burner of York, Pa., comes from good old German stock, and is himself a native of Germany, born Sept. 2, 1835. His parents, Caspar and Catherine ( Steinschamp) Lucking. both died in Germany, as did our subject's only brother, Christian.

Henry Lucking, Sr., came to America in 1854, landing at Baltimore, Md., on May 18th of that year. He arrived in the morning, and in the evening of the same day left for York, where he has since resided. His education was rather limited, owing to the fact that he was obliged to support himself, and his first occu- pation was burning limestone, which he fol- lowed for one year in York. In 1861 he en- gaged in burning lime, a business in which he was very successful until he retired from active life, in 1904, since when he has led a quiet life in his handsome residence at No. 115 South Water street, York. Mr. Lucking, in connec- tion with lime burning, also engaged in burning brick for eleven years, and in this business, as in the other, he prospered greatly.

In 1858 Henry Lucking. Sr., was united in marriage with Miss Mary Kottcamp, daughter of Frederick Kottcamp, and to this union the following children were born: Emma, de- ceased, who was the wife of Wesley Hilde- brand; Jennie M., at home; Henry, Jr., who is in the coal and wool business; Rose, deceased. who married Jacob Keener : Daniel F., a ma- chinist residing at No. III South Water street. York; Ellen, the wife of Rev. John Kleffman, a U. B. minister now located at Carlisle, Pa .:: Lillie M. and Mollie F., at home : and Ida, wife of John L. Rouse, an attorney of York, who is now serving as city solicitor. The mother of this family died in 1877. Mr. Lucking was married July 28, 1879, to Mrs. Annie Kott- camp, widow of Frederick Kottcamp. Mr. and Mrs. Lucking are members of the First United Brethren Church in York. In politics he is a Republican.

HENRY LUCKING, JR., a prosperous coal and wood dealer of York, whose place of business is conveniently situated on West Prin- cess street and the Bridge, was born in York in 1860, son of Henry and Mary ( Kottcamp) Lucking. He attended the schools of that city. and learned the blacksmith's trade with Spang- ler Bros., which occupation he followed for

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

eight and one half years. In 1884 he engaged in the coal and wood business on College ave- nue, where he continued for eight years, at the end of which period he came to his present place of business, where he has since been lo- cated. His business is constantly increasing, and Mr. Lucking's straightforward ways of dealing together with his reputation for hon- esty and integrity, have won the confidence of the people of York, thereby securing for him a constant trade.

Mr. Lucking was married first to Alice Greiman, a daughter of Charles F. Greiman, and she died in 1894, and was buried at Pros- pect Hill cemetery. She bore her husband the following children; Evelyn K., Charles H., Mary C., Mabel E., George D., Annie and Paul E. Mr. Lucking, after the death of his first wife, married Irene M. Butler, and they reside in their pleasant home at No. 514 South Duke street. In his political belief Mr. Luck- ing is a Republican. He and his family are valued members of Christ Lutheran Church of York.

MILTON B. GIBSON, ex-mayor of York, York county, is the great-grandnephew of Chief Justice John Bannister Gibson. The Gibson family is of Scotch-Irish descent and one of the oldest and best known in Pennsyl- vania, and has left its impress upon the social, political and military history of the State.

Col. George Gibson, Mayor Gibson's great-great-grandfather, was a son of George Gibson, Esq., of Lancaster, Pa., a notable figure in the early military life of the country, who emigrated to America from County Derry, Ireland, early in the eighteenthi cen- tury. In his younger manhood Col. Gibson had been engaged in the trade to the West Indies, and afterward was a trader with the Indians at Fort Pitt. Returning to the East, he bought a farm and settled at Gibson's Rock, Perry county (then a part of Cumberland), and married Anna West, a descendant of the Wests of Ireland. During the Revolutionary war he enlisted at Fort Pitt a company of 100 brave men, sharpshooters knownas "Gibson's Lambs." He was commissioned colonel of the Ist Virginia Regiment, joined Washing- ton before the evacuation of New York, and took part in many of the leading battles of the Revolution. In 1791 he took command of a reg-

iment under Gen. St. Clair, in his campaign in Ohio against the Indians of the Northwest Territory, and lost his life at the battle of Miami Village, dying at Fort Jefferson, Ohio, Dec. 14, 1791. He left three sons, of whom John Bannister Gibson became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, occu- pying the bench from 1816 to 1851, and was one of the most distinguished jurists of the State. Another son, Brig .- Gen. George Gib- son, was chief of the commissary department for a period of forty years. The third son was Francis F., great-grandfather of Milton B. Gibson, who was also in the army, and filled several civil positions with honor and fidelity. A relative of these gentlemen, whose name was also George Gibson, was a Presidential elector in 1789, voting for the first President of the United States. Other relatives of the grand- father of our subject held eminent and re- spon'sible positions under the State govern- ment.

Robert Gibson, the grandfather of Milton B. Gibson, was a native and resident of Perry county, Pa., and was familiarly known as 'Squire Gibson. He was appointed justice-of- the-peace by Gov. Pollock, and served continu- ously in that office for a period of thirty-seven years. He married Hannah Kreamer, and they were blessed with three children : Francis F., George A. and Mary.

Francis F. Gibson was a surveyor by pro- fession, but during the latter part of his life pursued a general merchandise business near Landisburg, Perry county, where he died in 1867, when only thirty-seven years old. He was married to Mary Ann Sheibley, daughter of Judge Jacob Sheibley, of Perry county, who died, leaving a son, Francis S. Several years later Mr. Gibson married again, espousing Catherine E. Baker, granddaughter of the late Conrad Holman, of Perry county. This union was blessed with two children: Milton Bucher and Walter Spotts, the latter dying in infancy.

Milton B. Gibson's father died when he was but seven years old and he grew to man- hood deprived of paternal care. He received his elementary education in the common schools, completed his academic studies at Bloomfield Academy, in his native county. and taught successfully for three years. In 1881 he purchased his father's property near Lan- disburg, and engaged in mercantile pursuits

Milton Blitson

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BIOGRAPHICAL

for several years, during which time he became

factory which it now occupies in York. Mr. Gibson became a stockholder, and, making a success as a retail salesman of their instru- ments, was soon appointed State representa- tive for the company in Pennsylvania. In 1885 he removed to York, where he has since resided. In 1886 he was elected secretary of the company, and in September, 1890, at the death of Mr. J. O. Weaver, the founder of the company, he was elected treasurer and general manager in addition to the secretary- ship. In 1896 he was elected to his present position, that of president of the company. The Weaver Organ & Piano Company has now a capacity that enables it to supply far more than a mere local market, and the details of its present output will be found elsewhere.

Milton B. Gibson was married, April 18, 1882, to Miss Elizabeth S. Shumaker, daugh- ter of Samuel Shumaker, of Harrisburg, Pa., who was prominent in public and business af- fairs of Perry county. To this union were born five children : Holman S., who died July 10, 1897; Amy Ruth, who died in infancy in 1889; Edith Belle, wife of W. T. Sibbett, manager of the Keystone carpet mills; Cath- erine Blanche and Marion Elisabeth, both graduates of the York high school, class of 1905.

In politics Mr. Gibson is a Republican, and in 1898 he was elected to the select coun- cil of the city of York for a period of four years, from the Second ward. In 1902 he was elected mayor of York for a period of three years. He is a member and one of the organ- izers of Heidelberg Chapter, No. 38, Brother- hood of Andrew and Philip, a religious organ- ization, and is a member and past chancellor of Crystal Lodge, No. 248, Knights of Pyth- ias. In religion he is affiliated with the Re- formed Church, being a member of the con- gregation at Heidelberg, in which he is an elder and has been acting superintendent of the Sunday-school for the past twelve years. .Mr. Gibson is a director of the Young Men's Christian Association of York, and a member of its important committees. He is also vice- president of the Pennsylvania State Sunday- School Association, of which Mr. John Wana- maker is president.

Mr. Gibson was one of the organizers of interested in the Weaver Organ & Piano Com- the York Card & Paper Company, and was a pany, which was at that time building the director and vice-president of the company for several years. He is a member of the Inter- national Advisory Board of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, and was a delegate to the congress of delegates for North and South America which met in Philadelphia, June Ist to 5th, 1897, to dedicate the museum and trans- act business of international import. Mr. Gib- son is a sagacious business man, and his abili- ties have pushed to the fore the important com- pany which he represents.

Mr. Milton B. Gibson has for years been a conspicuous figure in the ranks of the Repub- lican party in York, and in addition to hiav- ing been a member of the select council, and mayor of the city, was one of the committee on the eminently successful sesqui-centennial celebration of the organization of York county, ·observed in York, the first week in September, 1899. The committee was chosen by the city council, the board of trade and the Merchants' Association. Mr. Gibson became president of the joint committee, and was one of the chief promoters of the grand jubilee, and took an active part in the preparation of the memorial volume published at that time.

As mayor of York, Mr. Gibson honored the city as much as the city honored him. his clean and dignified administration of the city's affairs having had much to do with maintain- ing the Republican supremacy which was so emphatically expressed in the election of Feb- ruary. 1905. In brief, Mr. Gibson is honored abroad as much as at home, and it was a fit- ting compliment to him and to the city that he was made a member and served on the staff of the late Gen. Joseph Wheeler in the great inaugural parade March 4, 1905-a parade that was the prelude to the most notable inaug- uration in the history of the country.

THEODORE R. HELB occupies a fore- most place among the prominent business men of York which would justify his being pointed out as one of the notable examples of the self- made man in that city today. The average man is well contented to achieve success in the com- mercial affairs to which his best talents must be devoted. But Mr. Helb has broader ideas of life, believing that mere money getting cannot fill the full measure of human satisfac-

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

tion, and, as he was obliged to give his early years, during which he was obliged to make the years entirely to work, so he has made time best use of his inherent traits of thrift and since opportunity permitted for travel and the economy. Thus he fixed many excellent habits, social amenities in which he takes such pleasure. which have won him good-will and friendship wherever he has gone. His chief character- istics are the sterling ones that form the basis of success and happiness of the lasting sort- industry, honesty, application and reasonable enterprise. He is still in his prime, and able to enjoy to the full the ample fortune he has accumulated. The fact that it has been acquired by his own ef- forts undoubtedly gives his appreciation a keener point.

Mr. Helb is one of York county's native sons, having been born Oct. 17, 1851, in Shrewsbury township (now Railroad bor- ough). He attended the public schools there and in the city of Baltimore, and began work early, learning the trade of brewer. When he began the business for himself at York, in 1873, there was nothing to suggest the magnificent es- tablishment which he now owns and conducts. So modest, indeed, was his start that for the first ten years he himself did the most import- ant part of the manual labor necessary, having one assistant during the winter months, and none the rest of the year. But Mr. Helb knew his business thoroughly, and realized its possi- bilities. He was also apt at recognizing real improvements and has always had a progres- sive spirit which not only enabled him to keep up with new methods and ideas, but also to in- augurate a number himself. By strict attention to the wants of his patrons he increased his custom until he found it had reached what to him would have been at one time undreamed-of proportions. He was conservative and not over-sanguine, and only added to or remodeled his brewery as the actual demands of business necessitated. But he was never slow to take ad- vantage of a good opening or indifferent to his opportunities, and he has at the present day an establishment which for up-to-date equipment in second to none in the country. It is finely planned architecturally, presenting an artistic appearance, and no establishment in York is kept up better. That Mr. Helb is one of the most substantial citizens of York, the most prominent man in his line in that city. and one of the best known throughout the United States, is but the natural climax to his career, though to the mere observer, with nothing to judge the race by but the start and the finish, it seems ex- traordinary. He commenced with absolutely no financial assistance, a fact which kept him in moderate circumstances for a number of

Among the secret fraternities Mr. Helb is well known, being a member of the Odd Fel- lows, Elks, Foresters, Knights of Pythias, Knights of the Mystic Chain, Knights of Malta, Red Men and Heptasophs. He has taken par- ticular interest in the last named order, which he helped to organize, and of which he was the first supreme treasurer, holding that office for four years.

Mr. Helb was married to Emma Louise Rausch, daughter of John Rausch, a shoe mer- chant of Baltimore, Md., and two children have been born of this union, Louis and Herbert, both of whom have been well-educated, Louis being a graduate of Nazareth Hall, and of the Polytechnic Institute, class of 1894; Herbert graduated from the Maryland Institute, in Bal- timore, in 1903. Both sons are engaged with their father in official capacities. The family home is a magnificent brownstone and marble structure, probably the costliest residence in the city, and is charming in all its appointments.

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 27

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