History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 53

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

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The second marriage of Mr. Anderson was to Agnes Anderson, by whom he had the fol- lowing children: David, who died on his farm in Chanceford township, married Miss Eliza- beth Cross, daughter of Squire James Cross; William Wallace, who died in Lancaster City, married (first) Eliza Moffett: Jennie' G., a well known dress maker, now at the age of eighty-nine years is the second oldest member of the Guinston U. P.

Church; James, who married Miss Margaret Douglass, died in Chanceford township; Sarah Jane died at the age of fourteen years ; Margaret married William Frey, who was raised at Jolin Murphy's, in Chanceford ; and Agnes, who married George Wolf, who was raised near Laurel Station. The members of this family were all consistent attendants of the U. P. Church, to which Mr. Anderson was a liberal giver.

Mr. Anderson was a man of unimpeachable integrity and was higlily esteemed by all who knew him. His death closed a blameless life, and removed from the township one who had always been one of its best citizens.

SEVRENUS P. NOEL, a farmer and miller of Paradise township, York Co., Pa., was born on his present farm, Feb. 10, 1849, and attended the township schools under Pro- fessors Cushing, Howard and Smith. He left school at the age of eighteen years, and learned milling with his father, with whom he re- mained until his marriage.

Mr. Noel was married in 1875, to Miss Sarah King, of Paradise township, daughter of Joseph and Sally ( Bivenour) King, the lat- ter of whom is deceased. After his marriage he purchased a mill and farm, and here he has since continued, making many additions and improvements, and having one of the best farms in the township. He has been a member of the Paradise Catholic Church since child- hood, and has been organist thereof for the past thirty-five years. He is a stanch Democrat.

Michael Noel, father of Sevrenus P., was born in Paradise township in 1811, and passed all his life there, dying in 1877, while his wife passed away two years later. They were mem- bers of the Catholic Church. Mr. Noel was a Democrat. His children were: Sevrenus P .; Fabian, deceased; Felix and Stanislaus, who settled in Kansas, later removed to Oregon, where they are engaged in milling: John, of Baltimore; Susan, Mrs. Francis Marshall. of near Oxford; Michael A., of Philadelphia, a Jesuit priest ; and Salome, who was a Sister of St. Joseph, and died in McSherrytown in 1892. The grandfather of our subject was John Noel, a farmer, who inherited a farm from his father. He married Miss Feby Wise. They were devout Catholics, attending services in the homes of the Catholic residents of the neighborhood in the early days. Their chil-

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

dren were: Peter, who died at Mt. Rock, he remained three years. He then spent one Adams county : John and Michael, who died in year in Iowa at the millwright's trade, and, re- Paradise township: Joseph, who died in the turning to Dover, followed his trade for four West; and Jacob, who died at home. The years. He was engaged in the mercantile busi- great-grandfather of our subject came from ness near the borough of Dover, and in the France.

KERN DARON, an old and honored resi- dent of York, Pa., now employed by the York Manufacturing Company, as a machinist, was born in Manchester township, York county, Oct. 15, 1831, son of George Daron and grand- son of George.

George Daron, the grandfather, was born in Hellam township, York county, where he followed farming, later going to Dover town- ship, where the borough of Dover now stands. He built the hotel there now owned by Henry Brunhouse, and engaged in the hotel business a number of years before his death. He was buried in the old Strayer's Church. George Daron's children were: John, George, Jacob, Daniel, Estella, Rebecca, Lovinia, Leah and Mary Gross.

George Daron, father of Kern, was born in Dover township, and received a common school education. He learned the cooper's trade in Dover, and later engaged in agricul- ture in Manchester township, where he re- mained about twenty-four years, and then re- turned to Dover, engaging in the hotel busi- ness at his father's old stand, where he re- mained a number of years. He died aged fifty- seven years, having lived retired some time pre- vious to his death. Mr. Daron was buried at Strayer's Church. He married Lydia Kern, daughter of Peter and Mary (Delp) Kern, and she is buried beside her husband. Mr. Daron was a Democrat, and served on the election boards in Dover. His children were as follows : William, who died in Manchester township; George, who married a Miss Getts, and resides in York; Kern; Emanuel of Dover borough, engaged in the implement business, and married to Ella Hamm; Sarah, widow of Samuel Kohr; Susan, widow of Israel Reiber ; Louisa, wife of Henry Quickle, of York; Maggie, wife of Solomon Baugh- man, of Allentown; and Mary, wife of Am- brose Seifert.

Kern Daron received his education in Man- chester township, attending school until his sixteenth year, when he went to learn the car- penter's trade with Samuel Kohr, with whom

furniture and undertaking business for two years at Rosstown, Warrington township. He came to York in 1883, and was employed with the A. B. Farquhar Company for twenty years, ‘ in the machine shop, and in 1903 he engaged with the York Manufacturing Company as a mechanic, and he has continued with that firm until the present time. Although he has passed the seventy-fourth milestone in life's journey, Mr. Daron is in the best of health, in full re- tention of his faculties, and remarkably active.

In 1857 Mr. Daron married (first) Mary Leas, daughter of David and Sarah (Walker) Leas, and she died in 1882, being buried at Strayer's Church. She was the mother of these children: Sarah Jane, deceased, was the wife of Dennis Bosch; Lydia, the wife of L. Dunning, is residing in Ohio; Maggie is the wife of Frank Sheaffer, a neighbor of her sis- ter's husband in Ohio; Ruth is the wife of Mr. Hoover, of Iowa; George, of Illinois, married Saide Lancaster ; David lives at Denver, Colo. ; Charles married Mary Hess, and is a carriage maker of York: and John, who married Alice Seifert, is a clerk of York. In 1884 Mr. Daron married Mary ( Reisanger) Newcomber, widow of Esra Newcomber, and daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Smith) Reisanger. She was born and reared in Windsor township, York county. By her marriage with Mr. Newcomber Mrs. Daron had one son, Wilber J., who died aged twenty-four years, and was buried in the Pros- pect Hill cemetery. Mr. Daron is a stanch Democrat, and while in Dover held the office of township auditor and supervisor. In York he served as city assessor, 1897-98-99, filling his office to the entire satisfaction of the peo- ple. He is a member of Christ Lutheran Church of York.

An incident of which Mr. Daron is fond of telling is of how, when living in Rosstown, he had a horse stolen from his stable at the time that the Confederate troops were passing through that section.

JAMES L. KERR, deceased, one of the sons of Matthew Kerr, Sr., was, at the time of his death, a retired farmer and lime manufac- turer living in Wrightsville.

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BIOGRAPHICAL

Mr. Kerr was born in York, Pa., Jan. 18, Thomson, of Chambersburg, father of the late 1821, and received his education in the com- mon schools of that place. His first teacher was his father, and the school was held in the old frame building opposite the Methodist Church. Another well-remembered teacher was Peggy Parkerson. He was not over- fond of study, and managed to get in a good deal of fun with his school work. At six- teen he left school and began to work for him- self, obtaining the position of freight conductor O11 the Pennsylvania

railroad, between Wrightsville, Philadelphia and Baltimore. The freight carried on his run consisted mostly of whiskey and flour, which were frequently un- loaded in the streets of Baltimore where the Calvert station now stands. The railway sys- tem then in vogue was peculiar. The road was owned by the State, but much of the roll- ing stock was the property of private indi- viduals. Passengers could be carried on freight trains at a rate of two cents a mile, but the owners of the cars received three cents for each passenger from the State, and the State had an agent on every train to see that there was no cheating. The rails were held in place by wedges which became loosened whenever a train passed over the track, and men were sta- tioned along the road at intervals to keep the wedges in place. Wood was exclusively used for fuel, and the engine drivers had no shelter. Under such conditions it was not surprising that the train crew felt at liberty to stop any where they liked for dinner, or to spend the night. After two years of this railroading, Mr. Kerr became clerk in the lumber yard of Hoover & Duck, of Wrightsville, where he re- mained several years. He was afterward for many years lumber inspector, and then went into the lime business with his father, the firm being Kerr & Son. After the death of his father several of his brothers went into the business with him, and the firm became James L. Kerr & Co. In the spring of 1861 Mr. Kerr moved to Bucyrus, Ohio, where he owned a farm on which he lived until 1865. then return- ing home. He was afterward with his broth- ers in the lime business for ten years, when he retired.

Frank Thomson. president of the Pennsylvania Railway Company. Mr. Thomson was a na- tive of Scotland, Franklin county, where his father, a large property owner, had lived before him. He became a merchant in Fayette, Frank- lin county, for a time, and then came to Wrightsville, where for years he was the pro- prietor of a hat store. He and his wife both died in Wrightsville. Mrs. Thomson was a distant relative of the family of James L. Kerr, being a daughter of George Kerr, Sr., brother of the father of James L. Kerr. Mr. and Mrs. Thomson had the following children : John A., M. D., who died in Wrightsville; Eleanor, who married Henry Byers, M. D., and died in Fay- etteville, Pa .; Hannah McKee, who died un- married in Wrightsville; Sarah A., who mar- ried James L. Kerr; Samuel Rea, who died un- married; George A., M. D., who died in Bu- cyrus, Ohio; Dr. James W., who died in Wrightsville; William A., who died in Wil- mington, Del .; Agnes E., who is the widow of R. Frank Wilson, and lives in Oxford. Chester Co., Pa .; and Alexander R., who lives in Wil- mington, Delaware.

Mrs. Sarah A. (Thomson) Kerr died while visiting her brothers in Wilmington, in August, 1899. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Wrightsville. Mr. Kerr also at- tended the Presbyterian Church. For many years he was a member of the I. O. O. F., but had withdrawn from the order. He was al- ways a stanch Democrat, and cast his first vote for James K. Polk. He had a family of four children, of whom the only one living, Hannah, is at home. The others were: Margaret, who died in 1901, at home; Eleanor, who died at home; and Thomson, who died in Bucyrus. Ohio, at the age of nine. Mr. Kerr passed away March 15. 1905. at his home in Wrights- ville. widely mourned among thie circle of friends and acquaintances with whom he had been associated for so many years.

NOAH S. BRILLHART, of North Hope- well township, York county, resides in one of the comfortable homes of that locality, which is beautifully situated in the midst of a well cultivated farm. He was born on his father's farm in North Hopewell township, May 17, 1847.

In 1848 Mr. Kerr married, in Chambers- burg, Franklin county, Sarah A. Thomson, who was born in that county in 1827. Her parents were Alexander J. and Margaret Abraham Brillhart, grandfather of Noah (Kerr) Thomson, the former a cousin of Judge S., was born Nov. II, 1763. He came from

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Germany to the United States with his brother, work was on the farm, as a boy cradling and Samuel, who settled somewhere in York county. Abraham Brillhart died in Shrews- bury township, the father of several children.

Joseph Brillhart, the father of Noah S., was born in Shrewsbury township, York county, July 15, 1804. On Dec. 24, 1824, he married Elizabeth Strayer, born April 4, 1810. After their marriage they located in North Hopewell township, where Mr. Brillhart pur- chased over 200 acres and some mill property. At the time of the property's purchase an old woolen mill stood upon the land, and a man was hired to operate it. It was afterward re- placed with a grist mill. Mr. Brillhart was a blacksmith by trade, and operated a shop on his farm. A very skilled blacksmith, he was a fine worker in steel, making axes and all kinds of edged tools, such as jack-knives, table knives and forks, and also made all of his own horse-shoe nails. He followed smithing up. to the time of his death, in February, 1887. He possessed a fine education and taught subscrip- tion school. He was a fine penman, and a great reader, the Bible being his favorite reading. Originally a Whig, he changed to the Know Nothing, and then to the Republican party, and he held a number of township offices. He was a faithful member of Mt. Zion Evangelical Church, and was superintendent of the Sunday- school. Mrs. Brillhart died on the home place in 1895. To Joseph Brillhart and wife were born children as follows: Jacob, born June 25, 1831, married Elizabeth Venus and died in Maryland; Mary, born Aug. 5, 1833, mar- ried Levi Sheffer, and died in North Hopewell township; Henry, born Oct. 6, 1835. married Mary Ellen Grove, and died at Mt. Olivet, York county; Elizabeth, born March 25. 1837. died at the age of twenty-seven years; Joseph, born in 1839. died in infancy: John W .. born Jan. 10, 1842, married Mary A. Gemmell and died in April, 1904, at his home in Virginia; Sarah Jane, born Sept. 19, 1844, married Al- bert Wise, and died in Dallastown; Noah S .; and Catherine, born Aug. 23. 1849, married William Bortner, and died in Shrewsbury borough.

Noah S. Brillhart attended the school on his father's farm, his first teacher being Mar- tin Heathcote, and his last Squire A. R. Mc- Cann. He assisted his father in the black- smith shop to some extent, but his principal

mowing with a scythe. After reaching his majority his father paid him wages, which he carefully saved, being enabled after the death of his father to purchase the home farm from the estate. Here Mr. Brillhart carries on gen- eral farming very successfully. He has been a lifelong Republican, and cast his first vote for General U. S. Grant. He has served as tax collector, school director for three years, and was a director in the Shrewsbury Savings In- stitution for a like period.

Mr. Brillhart was married in Glen Rock, Feb. 8, 1876, by the Rev. Jesse Kohler, a Lu- theran minister, to Miss Isabella Diehl, born Feb. 8, 1850, in Shrewsbury township, daugh- ter of Adam and Anna (Tyson) Diehl, both deceased. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Brillhart have been: (1) James Clarence, born May 20, 1878, died in infancy. (2) Hylas Clyde, born Aug. 3, 1880, was educated in the public schools, the York County Normal at York, Pa., and spent one year in the York County Academy at York; he began teaching in his fifteenth year, taught five years in North Hopewell township, and is now in his third year in Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pa. (3) Irvin Hunter, born June 26, 1882, was edu- cated in the public schools, spent three terms at the York County Normal, taught school three terms, and then accepted a position with the First National Bank of Glen Rock as book- keeper. He was there one year when he was taken sick, and went to Texas for his health, where he spent four months, and was return- ing home when, just prior to reaching Kansas City, he died. (4) Harry Lester, born May 8, 1884. was educated in the public schools, and the Stewartstown Academy, and is now attend- ing Millersville Normal school, having taught one year. (5) Bessie Gertrude, born Aug. 6. 1886, died at the age of thirteen years. (6) Chester Roy, born Jan. 4, 1890, is at home. Carrie E. Craimer is being reared by Mr. and Mrs. Brillhart, her parents being deceased.

WILLIAM FOUST, one of the old and highly esteemed residents of Glen Rock, York county, was born April 25, 1836, in Shrews- bury township, this county, son of John S. and Rebecca (Ehrman) Foust.

The Foust family is of German extraction, but as far back as the grandfather of William

William Franst

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BIOGRAPHICAL

has been American born, he being a native of above mentioned property, Mr. Foust owns a Somerset county, Pa., where he carried on the business of milling and farming. His mar- riage associated him with another old and prominent German family, that of Shaffer, and he and his wife had three sons-Henry, John S. and Jacob-and one daughter, the lat- ter marrying Philip Shaffer. Samuel Ehrman, the maternal grandfather of William Foust, was also of German ancestry, and he followed farming in Shrewsbury township. His chil- dren were: Samuel; Julia Ann, wife of Jacob Gerwick; a daughter that married a Messer- smith; Sarah, wife of Jacob Hess; and Re- becca.

John S. Foust, father of our subject, died in 1867. In 1840, in connection with farm- ing, he began operating a distillery, beginning in a small way, but gradually improving his facilities until his plant produced an average of two barrels of whiskey per day. He married Rebecca Ehrman, and they had children : Na- thaniel; Joshua E .; Albert ; William; Alice A., wife of Henry Howard; and Angeline, wife of Daniel Dehuff.

William Foust attended the common schools of Springfield township, and in boy- hood assisted his father in the operation of his distillery, working at home until twenty-four years of age. He then started into business for himself, confining his operations to farm- ing until 1858, when he opened a small dis- tillery. This business has grown under his fine management until it is one of the largest industrial plants in this section. His annual output is something like 3,000 barrels of whiskey. Mr. Foust has all the accommoda- tions necessary for the proper and successful carrying on of this large enterprise. In addi- tion to a U. S. bond house with capacity of 5,000 barrels, is the old distillery (a two- story building 40x50 feet ), with so many barns and sheds surrounding, a general store, a num- ber of comfortable residences, and new ware house 100x36 feet, three and one-half stories in height, with a capacity of 3,500 barrels, the whole bearing a striking resemblance to a thriving village. The location of the plant is one of natural beauty. Mr. Foust also owns a retail liquor store and a general grocery here, as well as his own residence and the homes of some ten of his employees. His three sons occupy handsome homes here also, and are in- terested in the business. In addition to all the 26, 1857, son of John Barnd.

farm of 240 acres adjoining and surrounding, which is some of the most valuable land in Springfield township, and is situated within a mile and a half of Glen Rock. It is a privilege to be invited to visit this thriving industry and to witness the results obtained from the use of the improved machinery over the methods gen- erally accepted when Mr. Foust entered upon the business. The difference is notable also in the product, the aim at present being the pro- duction of a pure article under the best sani- tary conditions and under the direction of sci- entific chemists. The success of this enterprise speaks well of Mr. Foust's executive ability, and it has made him a large fortune.

In 1860 Mr. Foust was married (first) to Henrietta Bricker, daughter of John Bricker, of York county, and the following children were born to this union: Jolin Q. A., who married Mary K. Horst ; Luther, who died un- married, aged twenty-two years : William, who married Maggie Heathcote; Maggie, who mar- ried John Menges; Robert, who died aged twenty-nine years; Frederick, who married Alice Richart; Lestella May, who married Amos Huffman. The mother of these chil- dren died Jan. 14, 1890. In October, 1895, Mr. Foust was married ( second) to Laura Taylor, a daughter of Charles Taylor, of Shrewsbury township.

In politics Mr. Foust is one of the town- ship's active Republicans, and in 1893 he was the party's candidate for the office of sheriff of York county. He has numerous business interests here, and belongs to a number of di- recting boards, being one of the directors of the First National Bank of Glen Rock; a director of the Southern Trust and Deposit Co., of Baltimore, Md., and also a director in the Building and Loan Association of Baltimore. His fraternal connection is with the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Foust is a progressive, pub- lic-spirited citizen, and is as noted for his pri- vate charities as for his first-class citizenship. He is widely known, and bears the reputation in the business world of being an honorable and upright man.

WILLIAM H. BARND, a director of the Glen Rock National Bank, and an enterprising farmer of Springfield township, York county, was born in North Hopewell township. Nov.

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

John Barnd was born in Hesse Darmstadt, having removed to Hopewell township when Germany, July 28, 1832, and at the age of he was two years old. Mr. Strayer's birth oc- twenty-one years came to America, landing at New York. He remained there but a short time, however, and then came to York county, Pa., where he married Mary Hildebrand. They located in North Hopewell township, where he followed his trade of stone and brick mason, and later came to Springfield township, and purchased Adam Hildebrand's farm of 100 acres. Upon this farm he erected a new set of Farm he was wounded in the right arm, which buildings and made many improvements. He did not occupy this farm, but continued work- ing at his trade until 1895, when he retired from active life, living since that year with his son, our subject. Mrs. Barnd died in 1903, and was buried in Mt. Zion cemetery. They had these children : William H. ; Rosa A., wife of Rudolph Newman, of Red Lion; Matilda, wife of Charles Myers, of Windsor township; and Samuel, in the mercantile business in Glen Rock. In politics Mr. Barnd is a Republican. During the Civil war he served his country as a member of Company K, 166th P. V. I., under Capt. Daniel Stout. He was in service eighteen months, and participated in several small en- gagements. curred Feb. 25, 1846, at Maytown, Lancaster county. He received his education in the pub- lic schools and at Pleasant Grove Academy, and remained on the parental farm until 1863, when he enlisted in Company C, 21st Penn- sylvania Cavalry, in which he served nine months, after which he enlisted in Company B, 188th P. V. I. At the battle of Chapin's was subsequently amputated. After the close of the war Mr. Strayer followed school teach- ing in Hopewell township, York county, for thirteen years. In 1881 he was elected justice of the peace for the borough of Winterstown, which office he filled with great credit. In 1868 he had been appointed postmaster at Ap- ple Grove, later Winterstown, which office he held until 1881. In 1890 he was one of the census enumerators of York, Pa., and has also filled other minor positions. On March 2, 1903, he was appointed deputy collector of in- ternal revenue of York county by Collector Hershey, and has proved a most faithful and efficient official, his civil record having been as creditable as his military career, the fidelity he has shown in his many years of official life being of the same quality as the patriotism which led him, a mere youth, to put aside cher- ished hopes in order to assist in the defense of his country.

William H. Barnd attended the schools of Springfield township until seventeen years of age, at which time he left home for a year to work on the Hersh's farm, near York City. He married Sophia Smith, daughter of Charles Smith, of Springfield township, and they have had these children : Mary Ellen, wife of Claude S. Gohn, living at Red Lion ; John; Ida; and Alverta. Mr. Barnd is a stanch Republican, and has served his township as school director for two terms, being president and later secre- tary of the board. He also served as super- visor of the township, and on the election board, and has been a delegate to the county conven- tions. He is a director in the Glen Rock Na- tional Bank, and has other business in- terests. Mr. Barnd is the owner of a fine col- lection of old and rare coins, which it is his great pleasure to display to a large circle of interested friends.

ADAM F. STRAYER, deputy collector of revenue of the district of York, is a son of David W. and Lydia (Strayer) Strayer, and though born in Lancaster county has spent al- most all of his life in York county, his parents

Mr. Strayer was married in 1867 to Sarah E. Snyder, daughter of Jacob Snyder. No children have been born to this union. Mr. Strayer is a member of the United Brethren Church.

DAVID BENTZ, a veteran of the Civil war, now living retired on his excellent prop- erty in Washington township, York Co .. Pa., was born in this county, in Warrington town- ship, in September, 1842.

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 53

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