History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 3

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

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Dr. Hay married Sarah Beard, whose fam- ily also settled early in York county, her father, George Beard, being one of the first emigrants to make a settlement in what is now Spring Garden township. The Indians were still on his land when he took up his home there, and he gave them a pick and shovel to gain their friendship and strengthen his title to the prop- erty. He followed farming and also kept hotel. Dr. Hay and his wife both passed away in the year 1875, he in April and she in July. They

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

were members of the Lutheran Church. Eight of Francis A. Stevens and lives at Overbrook, children were born to them, namely: (I) near Philadelphia; Lucy Kate, wife of Charles A: Weeks, residing in Philadelphia; Dr. Jo- seph S., a graduate of Harvard, now practicing in Boston, Mass .; Katie S., who is at home; and Jacob, who has not yet completed his edu- cation. Mrs. Hay still resides at the family home, No. 141 West Market street, York. She and her family belong to the Lutheran Church, of which the Doctor was also a mem- ber. John, who became a successful physician, died at the age of forty-two. (2) Mary E., now de- ceased, was the widow of Dr. J. A. Brown, president of the Lutheran Theological Semi- nary, at Gettysburg. (3) Caroline is deceased. (4) Lucy, now deceased, was the widow of W. H. Davis. (5) Jacob is mentioned below. (6) William graduated from Pennsylvania College, and was a highly successful lawyer and a prominent member of the York Bar un- til his death, which occurred at the compara- tively early age of forty-seven. He was a man of brilliant intellectual gifts and equally high character, and had an honored place in the community. He was a Republican Presiden- tial elector from his district in 1876. (7) Henry and (8) Sarah are deceased.

Dr. Jacob Hay, Jr., was born in York in 1833. He received his early education in the York County Academy and began reading medicine in his father's office, subsequently en- tering the Medical Department of the Uni- versity of Maryland. He graduated in the spring of 1854, and from that time until his death, in 1897, was in continuous practice in his native place. Dr. Hay will live in the memories of many who looked upon him as a friend in the truest sense of the word. His skill as a physician enabled him to sustain suc- cessfully the reputation established by his hon- ored father, but his worth as a man counted for just as much in his relations with his fel- low citizens. He took a deep interest in the question of public education, and served a num- ber of years as a member of the board of school control in York, for several years acting as president of that body. He was a prominent member of the York County Medical Society, of which he served as president, and also held membership in the State Medical Society and the National Medical Association. Fraternally he was a Knight Templar Mason, belonging to the York Commandery. His death, which occurred Oct. 18, 1897, was widely mourned in many circles, and he was laid to rest in Prospect Hill cemetery with many marks of loving regard.

In 1865 Dr. Hay was united in marriage with Miss Catherine L. E. Smyser, daughter of Joseph Smyser, of York. Five children came to this union : Sarah (Nellie), who is the wife

SMYSER. The Smyser family, to which Mrs. Hay belongs, is one of the oldest and most prominent in York county. The name was or- iginally Schmeisser, which translated means "one who throws," and the laurel branch was the emblem of the family. The first of whom we have record is Martin Schmeisser, a farm- er, who became second commanding officer un- der Frederick V, and was mortally wounded at the battle near Wurtemberg. His last words were, "Though all the world is lost, I stand firm in my faith." [Menzel's "History of Ger- man Warriors."] He was a member of the Lutheran Church in the parish of Lustenan. Later his wife, Anna Barbara, aged fifty years, emigrated to America in the vessel "Brittania," Michael Franklin, master, being accompanied by her daughter, Margaret, aged twenty years, and her two sons, Mathias, aged sixteen, and George, aged nine. They sailed from Rotter- dam Sept. 1, 173I.

Mathias Schmeisser ( I), son of Martin and Anna Barbara, was born Feb. 17, 1715, in the village of Rugelbach, belonging to the parish of Lustenan, about six miles west of Dinkels- buhl, Germany. Dinkelsbühl is a considerable town within a few miles of the boundary of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Rugelbach is situated within a few miles of the boundary which di- vides that Kingdom from that of Bavaria. Dinkelsbuhl is nearly in a straight line between Stuttgart and Nuremberg, about seventy-five miles from the former and sixty miles west- southwest from the latter. Mathias Schmeis- ser made his first settlement in the neighbor- hood of Kreutz Creek, York county, where he follower the weaving business, soon afterward taking up a large body of land in the vicinity of what is now called Spring Forge, in the same county. It is said that, anxious to get neigh- bors, Mathias made presents of several farms

BIOGRAPHICAL

from his own tract to such as agreed to im- prove and live on them. Whether his brother George was one of those who received a plan- tation from him on the same terms mentioned is not certainly known, but it is known that the two brothers were neighbors at the above named place, and it is said that Mathias, after some years' residence there, finding that he had parted with the best portion of his land, sold out and purchased a tract of about 400 or 500 acres from a Mr. Henthorn, about three miles west of York, to which he removed May 3, 1745. On this farm he continued to reside un- til his death, in 1778.

George Schmeisser, Mathias' brother, pur- chased a farm somewhere between York and York Haven, where he resided several years, and then, not being pleased with the quality of his land, he sold it and removed to the back- woods, as the west and southwest country was then called, probably to some part of Virginia, and nothing from the time of his removal is definitely known of him. There are, however, Smysers residing in the neighborhood of Louis- ville, Ky., and it is thought that they are de- scendants of George Smyser, the brother of Mathias.

Mathias Schmeisser ( 1) married Anna Wolfgang Copenheaver, who was born June 5, 1717, and who died Feb. 13, 1763. Her funeral was very large, and the following hymns were sung: "Lo now I wish you good- night," and "Oh, Jesus Christ, The Light of my Life." The text of the funeral sermon was from Luke X, 41-42. Rev. L. Rous was the minister in charge. Mrs. Schmeisser left to survive her a husband, three sons and six daughters, out of a family of eleven children : Col. John Michael; Mathias Jacob; Mathias; Maria Dorotha; Sabina; Rosanna; Elizabeth; Anna Maria; and Susan. Those deceased were John George; and Daniel, who died young. Mathias Schmeisser (I) died April 12, 1778.

(I) Col. John Michael Schmeisser, the eld- est, was born in 1740, and died in 1810. He was long and widely known as a respectable farmer and tavern-keeper, the owner of a well- cultivated farm of about 200 acres, which was cut from a portion of his father's farm, and, although not favored with a liberal education, was known as a man of discriminating mind and sound judgment. He was early associated with the leading Revolutionary patriots of the country, and marched to the battlefield as cap-

tain of a company in Col. M. Swope's regi- ment, and was one of those who were taken prisoner at Fort Washington, on the Hudson, near New York, on Nov. 16, 1776. He be- came colonel of his regiment, and the sword carried by him in the War of Independence may now be seen in the York County Histori- cal Society's rooms. In 1778 he was elected one of the members of the House of Repre- sentatives in the State Legislature for York county, and from that time until 1790 he was. seven times chosen to serve in that capacity. In 1790 and 1794 he was elected to the State Senate, serving until 1798. He left three sons and four daughters: Peter, Elizabeth, Sarah, Jacob, Mary, Michael and Susan.

(2) Mathias Jacob Schmeisser, son of Ma- thias,. was born in 1742, and died in 1794. He was also a respectable farmer. and for some years a justice of the peace. In 1789 he was elected to the House of Representatives, and a few years afterward died at the age of fifty- one years. He left children : Henry, Jacob, Martin, John, Catherine, Daniel, Peter and Adam.

(3) Mathias Schmeisser (2) (or Smyser), the youngest of the three surviving sons, born Feb. 1, 1744, resided at the mansion home of his father, where he quietly pursued the use- ful occupation of an agriculturist, laboring with his own hands for many years, and main- taining in the course of a long life the well earned reputation of an honest man of the strict- est integrity. In the Revolutionary war he was also in the service for some time, not as a sol- dier, but as a teamster, conducting a baggage wagon, and was throughout a zealous advo- cate of the Whig cause. He lived to be over eighty-four years old, a greater age, by several years, than any of his brothers or sisters at- tained.

(4) Maria Dorotha, the eldest daughter, who married Peter Hoke, left eight children : Michael, Clorrissa, Catherine, Peter, Jacob, Sarah, Polly and George.

(5) Sabina married Jacob Swope, and re- sided in Lancaster county, where she left five sons, Jacob, George, Matthias, Imanuel, Fred- erick and two daughters.

(6) Rosanna married George Moul and re- sided for some years in the town of York, and afterward removed to Virginia, with her hus- band, locating between Noland's Ferry on the Potomac and Leesburg in Loudoun county,

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

where she died about 1796 or 1797, leaving house was pointed out to him, in which his four daugliters and one son, Susan, Catherine, Polly, Peggy and Philip, Elizabeth, George and Daniel, each having lived to the age of twenty years, and Peggy and Philip having died since 1806.

(7) Elizabeth married Leonard Eichel- berger, and at the time of her death was re- siding near Dillsburg, York county. She left four sons, Jacob, Frederick, George and John, and four daughters whose names are not known.

(8) Anna Maria, born in 1757, died in 1833. She married Martin Ebert, and left George, Martin, Daniel, Adam, Michael, Susan, Helena and Anna Mary.

(9) Susan, the youngest daughter, born in 1760, died in 1840. She married Philip Ebert, and left one son and four daughters to survive her: Henry, Elizabeth, Catherine, Lydia, and Sarah; her youngest son, Michael, died about a year before his mother. He had resided in St. Louis, Mo., where he had engaged as a merchant. Her second daughter, the wife of Henry Small, also died about two years pre- vious to her mother's death.

Thus we have sixty-four grandsons and daughters of Mathias Schmeisser the elder, nearly all of whom are now living and have or have had families.

In April, 1839, Mathias Smyser (3), grand- son of Mathias (I), set out to make a tour through a part of Europe. He was then fifty- six years old and had spent his past life as a farmer in York county. The main object of his trip to Europe was to visit the birthplace of his grandfather. There was nothing in this country by which the place of his nativity could be traced except the inscription on his tomb- stone in the burying ground of the Lutheran Church, in the borough of York. Mr. Smyser sailed from New York for Havre, France, where he arrived in safety. From Havre he traveled through the interior of France to Geneva; from Geneva his main route was to Lausanne, Berne, Basel, Freiburg, Strassburg, Baden, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Krailsheim and then to Dinkelsbuhl, where he inquired for Rugelbach, and found that he was within six miles of his destination. This is a small vil- lage inhabited by farmers, and in itself is noth- ing interesting to a stranger, but to him who sought it as being the birthplace of his ances- tor, it was a spot of intense interest. When the

grandfather had been born 124 years previous, still known by the name of Schmeisser's house, though its present occupants were of another name, when he beheld this time-worn, humble mansion, when he entered it and felt a con- sciousness of being within the same walls, probably treading upon the same floor which more than a century ago had been trodden by his grandfather, his gratification can hardly be imagined by us who have not experienced it. Mr. Smyser called upon the then pastor of the parish, the Reverend Sieskind, and made known to him his desire to see his grandfather's name on the baptismal register. The reverend gentleman opened the ancient book, but through age and accident it had become much mutilated, and it took hours of patient search before the following interesting entry was found: "Mathias Schmeisser, born 17th day of February, 1715, son of Martin Schmeisser and his wife. Anna Barbara, was baptized." etc. This record agrees precisely with that on his tombstone in America. The minister next led Mr. Smyser to the church of the parish and pointed out to him the taufsteine, assuring him that, according to the unvarying custom, be- fore that stone, and on that spot, his grand- father had been baptized. In the register men- tioned above and also in that of a village called Dreiber, some miles distant, the name of Schmeisser was very often found. Mathias Smyser met with a man named Andrew Schmeisser at or near Mosbach, who was sixty- seven years of age, with whom he was greatly pleased, seeing in him a strong resemblance to his own father, especially when the latter was about the same age. They may have been sec- ond cousins, although Andrew Schmeisser had no recollection of hearing that a Mathias Schmeisser had emigrated to America.

Mathias Schmeisser (I), and his brother George, were among the original members of Christ Lutheran Church, of York, the first Lu- theran congregation organized in York and its vicinity, soon after his arrival in America. Their names are found on the record of the members of that congregation, which com- menced the erection of a church, a wooden structure, in 1752. In the graveyard connected with this church, in 1778, his body was inter- red, the evidence of which is found on his tombstone.

The Smyser family were all warm and ac-

BIOGRAPHICAL

tive supporters of the American cause during the Revolutionary struggle, Col. Michael Smy- ser being a useful man in the councils of that time, as well as in the field. When the war commenced in 1775, and the port of Boston was closed, for the purpose of starving the people of that important point into submission, a committee of twelve persons of York county was formed for the purpose of affording re- lief to their distressed brethren of Boston. A sum of nearly 250 pounds specie, a large sum at that time, was raised and remitted to John Hancock, afterward president of Con- gress, with a spirited letter of encouragement and promises of further assistance. These facts are recorded for the honor of our country in the American Archives at Washington with the names of the committee. Michael Smyser was an active and leading member of that com- mittee and remitted as a part of the above sum, from Manchester township, six pounds, twelve shillings and one pence. If the American cause had failed, every member of that commit- tee, as well as their illustrious correspondent, on whose head a price was set, would have for- feited their lives on the scaffold.

To return to the record of the earlier gen- erations in direct line to Mrs. Hay :

Mathias Schmeisser (2), born Feb. I, but national affairs.

1744, died Feb. 21, 1827. On March 5, 1771, he married Louisa Slagle, who was born May 3. 1744, and died Aug. 26, 1820. They had children as follows: Maria Catharine, who married S. Eichelberger; George, who mar- ried Catharine Gardner; Jacob, who married Elizabeth Emig; Anna Maria, who married John Emig; Mathias (3), who married Eliza- beth Eyster; Philip, who married Susan Hoy- er; Elizabeth, who died young; and Henry, who married Catharine Spangler.

Mathias Schmeisser (3), born Dec. 29, 1782, died April 7, 1843. In 1804 he married Elizabeth Eyster, who was born in 1776, and who died in 1849. They had two sons and two daughters: Joseph married Sarah Weaver ; Samuel married Rebecca Lewis; Sarah married Jacob King; Elizabeth married George Laucks. Mathias (1), Mathias (2), and Mathias (3) and their wives were all buried in the churchyard of Christ Lutheran Church, in York, but later they were removed to the lot of Joseph and Samuel Smyser, in Prospect Hill cemetery, at York.

Joseph Smyser, son of Mathias (3). was

born Feb. 1, 1811, on the old homestead in West Manchester township. He was engaged in farming throughout his active years, but during his closing years lived retired in York, where he died, Jan. 31, 1903. In 1835 he was married to Sarah Weaver, of Adams county, Pa., and they had children as follows: Cath- erine L. E., the widow of Dr. Jacob Hay, and the historian of the family; Ellen Sarah, widow of Clay Lewis; and Alice M., widow of Dr. J. G. Cannon, residing in York. Mr. Smyser was a charter member of the Union Evangelical Lutheran Church, and always took an active part in its work. He was a Repub- lican in political faith. A man of high char- acter, he stood well among his associates in every walk of life.

HENRY NES, M. D., president of the York National Bank, director of the York Gas Company, is of the fourth generation in York county of a family noted for the versatility and solid attainments of its representatives. Moreover. his grandfather, his father and him- self, native sons of York county, have all iden- tified themselves with professional, industrial, financial and legislative history there, and they have woven themselves not only into sectional

In the York Recorder of July 22, 1828, ap- peared the following obituary notice :

"Died on Saturday evening, the 19th in- stant, William Nes, Esq., of an extremely pain- ful and lingering disease, aged about sixty- eight years. Mr. Nes was treasurer of York county the usual time the office is held by one individual, and was afterward a representative in the House of Representatives of the General Assembly. For many years he was one of the most enterprising and successful merchants of York, and in all his vocations, whether public or private, he sustained the character of an honest man. He was of an obliging and friend- ly disposition. To his friends he was devoted, and in his friendships he was ardent and sin- cere."

This William Nes was the great-grandfather of Dr. Henry Nes. He was born July 13, 1761, was one of York's leading merchants, and took an active part in the affairs of the town. He began business with a general store located at the southwest corner of Market and Water streets, afterward purchasing the prop- erty in Center Square now known as Jordan's

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Corner, which he occupied as a residence and one of the most prosperous manufactories of place of business until his death, in 1828. the city, retiring from his responsibilities in From 1817 to 1820 he held the office of treas- October, 1905. urer of York county, and was a member of the

Ten years ago Dr. Nes became a director of Pennsylvania Assembly during the years of the York National Bank, and from the first

1820 and 1821. William Nes was one of a number of leading citizens of York who or- ganized the York Bank, now the York Na- tional Bank, becoming one of its first board of directors. He was married to Elizabeth, a daughter of Rudolph Spengler, the latter one of York's early settlers and a captain in the Revolutionary war. Both William Nes and his wife are buried in Christ Lutheran church- yard.

Hon. Henry Nes, M. D. (son of William Nes), the grandfather of the living representa- tive of that name, colleague of Hon. Thaddeus Stevens in Congress, and a distinguished phy- sician and surgeon, was born in York, May 20, 1802, and died Sept. 10, 1850. On Aug. 25, 1825, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Benja- min Weiser, and five children were born to them : Dr. Charles M .; Arabella, Mrs. E. A. King; Frederick F., who was for many years connected with the United States Coast Sur- vey; Margaret, Mrs. G. W. Doty, of Clinton- ville, Wis .; and Ada E., wife of Dr. B. F. .Spangler, of York. Dr. Henry Nes and his son, Dr. Charles M. Nes, are more fully men- tioned in the first volume of this work.

Charles M. Nes, M. D., was born in York, June 26, 1827, and died June 1I, 1896. In 1846 he married Caroline, daughter of Jacob King, and the surviving children of this union are: Dr. Henry Nes, Charles M. Nes, E. Gulick Nes, and Elizabeth (Mrs. Eli Forney).

HENRY NES, M. D., the eldest of the four children of the late Dr. Charles M. Nes and Caroline (King) Nes, is descended on his mother's side from the Smysers, who were among the opulent landowners of this section of Pennsylvania. He was born in York, in 1854, and received his education at the York County Academy and the Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Like his father and grandfather his attraction to the medical profession was too strong to be overcome, and he abandoned a position in a York bank to as- sume professional studies. After graduating from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and assisting his father for a time, he returned to a business career by establishing the York Tack and Nail Works. As active head of that concern for twenty years, he developed it into

has actively participated in its management. He served for six years as its vice-president, and in January, 1906, was elevated to the pres- idency, succeeding Grier Hersh, who resigned to become the head of the Maryland Trust Company, of Baltimore. Dr. Nes thus takes rank as one of the leading financiers of this section of the State, and as he brings long and successful experience, the sound physique of middle age, and broad and vigorous mental qualities to bear upon his new duties, both the institution and its president are destined for a future career of even greater usefulness and importance than their past.

GRIER HERSH, the recently elected president of the Maryland Trust Company, of Baltimore, is now taking the position in relation to the leading financial interests of the country that he formerly bore to those of the State of Pennsylvania. His conspicuous ability in the handling of large interests, particularly as re- gards the management of their finances, has made him one of the prominent figures in bank- ing circles in the East, and made him available for his present position when the Trust Com- pany, on resuming its normal place in the busi- ness world, was looking for a capable head. Mr. Hersh severed many associations of long standing in York, his home from birth, in ac- cepting his new responsibilties. No man in the city was more energetic in the promotion of its public utilities or more devoted to its general welfare in the most practical way.

Mr. Hersh was born in York, Jan. 29, 1863, and until the past few months had all his interests centered there. He graduated from the Pennsylvania Military College, at Chester, Pa., in 1880, and in 1884 graduated from Princeton. His ancestors have been identified with professional and business inter- ests in York for several generations, and cer- tain social and public duties were his by inherit- ance. A disposition to discharge these con- scientiously has characterized him throughout his career, and thus he has been prominent in business and public life from early manhood. That he has taken an important part in the up- building of the city along the most approved

BIOGRAPHICAL

modern lines is indicated from his interest in various large concerns. He is president of the York Gas Company, the York & Maryland Line Turnpike Company, the York & Liverpool Turnpike Company, a director of the York Water Company and the York County Trac- tion Company. In 1895 he was elected presi- dent of the York National Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in southern Penn- sylvania, and continued in that incumbency un- til he retired, at the close of the year 1905, to turn his attention to the affairs of the Mary- land Trust Company, of Baltimore. Mr. Hersh formally assumed the duties of the incumbency Jan. 2, 1906. The Maryland Trust Company has been one of the most prominent trust com- panies in the city of Baltimore, but through un- fortunate investments was placed in the hands of a receiver about three years ago. However, by careful management, the depositors were all paid in full, and on Dec. 14, 1905, the receiver- ship was removed so that the company could resume regular business. This was accom- plished mainly through the efforts of Speyer & Co., of New York, who have a large interest in the Maryland Trust Company, and upon whose recommendation Mr. Hersh was solic- ited to become the head of the reorganized con- cern. It bids fair to gain prestige among the most influential banking houses of the country, being financed by some of the strongest con- cerns in the East, its board of directors includ- ing representatives of such firms as Speyer & Co., the Guaranty Trust Company, the North American Trust Company, Lazard Freres, and the Chase National Bank, all of New York; the Girard Trust Company, of Philadelphia ; and the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Company, of Baltimore. It was a high compliment to Mr. Hersh and an unlooked-for expression of con- fidence from men familiar with the best talent in banking circles that the offer of such an im- portant connection came to him entirely un- solicited.

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 3

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