History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 59

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

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western journey to his field of labor in the In- wife, and an assistant was needed. Here was dian Territory. But few western railroads at ample opportunity for field work among the various scattered towns of the Nation, and it was then that our earnest effort was made to acquire a knowledge of their language. We studied not only what was written, but used it according to our ability in conversing with individuals, and from house to house visitation. Work could be carried on more easily and effi- ciently by talking directly with the people, in- stead of depending on an interpreter. In time we were enabled to write and preach in the na- tive tongue. The work progressed, and among the converts was the principal chief of the Na- tion, who became a minister and spent his life in preaching the Gospel to his people and others. that time were completed and he was compelled to travel mostly by river steamboats. Taking passage at Cincinnati, Ohio, he descended the Ohio to its junction with the Mississippi, fol- lowed that river to the mouth of the Arkansas, up which he sailed to the border of Indian Ter- ritory, at Fort Smith, whence after a detention of one week, he took a steam boat for Fort Gibson. After reaching this point he proceeded te Verdigris Landing on Verdigris River, six miles from Tallahassee, the nearest mis- sion station in the Creek Nation, and was wel- comed by the Rev. R. M. Loughridge, in charge. There he first met the Indians, and preached, through an interpreter, for the first time to the natives. From there Doctor Ram- "On assuming his second appointment to missionary work, the subject of this sketch was without a helpmate, but was enabled to find one in the person of Miss Eliza J. Lilley, who had just graduated in the Steubenville Female Seminary, and had returned home to assist her parents in their work among the Seminoles. We were united in marriage, July 24, 1856. Early in 1860 we started a new mission, called Prairie mission, fifty miles west of the old Seminole mission, called Oak Ridge mission, but in the following September came East on a contemplated three months vacation. Be- fore that time had elapsed, Lincoln had been elected President, the Southern States had seceded, the Civil war inaugurated and our re- turn to the Indian Territory rendered impos- sible. During the years of Civil war which fol- lowed we spent the time in preaching and teaching. We moved in 1861 to Kansas, taught school and preached in various localities until the war ended, when, in 1866, we were again sent to resume missionary work among the Seminoles, who had settled in a new home, called Wewoka. In November of that year (1866), in company with Rev. W. S. Robert- son and family, who had also been ante bellum missionaries to the Indians, we commenced the journey in wagons from Highland, in North- eastern Kansas, to Fort Gibson in Cherokee Nation, at first a caravan of four wagons, and afterward of five, mostly camping out at night, and consuming nearly three weeks in reaching our destination. From Fort Gibson we all went to the Tallahassee Mission, which had say proceeded to his appointed station, Kowe- tah, fifteen miles distant, and to continue Mr. Ramsay's interesting story in his own words: "There (Kowetah) we found our work of conducting a manual labor boarding school of forty Indian children, and of preaching at that station and at various out stations from house to house. In an Evangelistic excursion to the Seminole mission, 100 miles distant, and taking in the Creek General Council then in session, a good opportunity was embraced for seeing and becoming acquainted with many of the chiefs and principal men of the Nation, and of preaching to them at night in the council house. On reaching the Seminoles there was an ob- ject lesson afforded for seeing Indians in a more savage condition of idleness, drunken- ness, heathen customs and wretchedness in the extreme. Our work at Kowetah was encour- aging ; many of the pupils in the school were converted, and a church formed and growing, but our work was cut short by failure of health on the part of the dear mother of the mission, and we were compelled to return to our East- ern home, where in less than a year she was translated to Heaven, just four years after her marriage. Soon after this, an invitation was given the survivor to take charge of the Chestnut Level Academy, which was accepted and conducted successfully for two years, at the end of which time he was re-appointed to his missionary work among the Indians. But now it was especially to the Seminole. The work among them had greatly prospered under the earnest workers, Mr. John Lilley and his been alternately made the abode of the Union

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and Confederate troops, and presented such a was taken home to eternal rest, was the mother spectacle of destruction and desolation as of eight children, four girls and four boys. caused our hearts to ache.

"During the winter the writer made two trips to the Seminoles on horseback, and on the second reorganized the Seminole Presby- terian Church of sixty-six members. In March, 1867, we moved with our family to Wewoka, where most interesting work, among full-blood Indians by the hundreds, interested us for years. We taught the old and' the young. A mission house for a boarding school for educating the Seminole children was built and carried on during several years, accommo- dating as many as sixty pupils at times. A church was also built, where every Sabbath, at the ringing of the bell on its cupola, the In- dians of all ages and sexes could be seen com- ing from their homes in all directions to wor- ship God. They loved to pray and listen to the preaching, but above all else they delighted in singing the beautiful hymns contained in the The Rev. Mr. Ramsay was united in mar- riage with his present wife, Mary Lois Dia- ment, April 6, 1875. hymn book which the missionaries had prepared for them. Some of them have become preach- ers and are still conducting Evangelical work there, after their first teachers and preachers JOHN F. BECK, ex-county commissioner have passed away. Great changes have taken of York county, who is now living a retired place in the sentiment of the Seminoles since

The first, Mary, is married to John Lilley and lives in Kansas; Sarah died when three years old; Margaret married Rev. T. H. Candor, and with him is a missionary in Bogota, South America; Addie died in her twenty-seventh year of yellow fever in Barranquilla, Colombia, South America ; Hugh died in infancy ; Hamil- ton Irvin died when three years old; James Robinson is a miller and canner in Delta, Pa .; and Charles Hodge died in his twenty-fourth year.

"My children were left motherless when young, but God enabled me to give them educa- tional advantages which they improved. Mar- garet Candor is an accomplished scholar and musician, and James Robertson has an edu- cation which qualifies him for any useful busi- ness and is energetic and successful in his po- sition in the Delta Buying & Selling Agency."

life at Paradise, Springfield township, was the first attempts were made to introduce the born in York, Aug. 16, 1829, son of John Beck, Gospel and schools among them. At first they and grandson of George Beck, who was a post and fence maker in what is now Manchester borough, and there died. were so ignorant and prejudiced that they said they wanted no preaching or schools, and when the first school was opened at Oak Ridge mission, it was difficult to induce any parents to place their children in it, and the people seemed afraid to attend religious meetings. Now nearly all attend church, and every par- ent wishes to place his children in school. They have had mission schools, and day or neighborhood schools, and now they have erect- ed at their own expense two palatial school buildings, one for boys and the other for girls, costing each $50,000, in which 250 children may be lodged and taught.

John Beck, father of John F., was born in Newberry township in 1799, and learned the carpenter's trade and cabinetmaking, which he later followed in York. He remained there a number of years and then went to Loganville, later returning to York, where he lived re- tired for.a time prior to his death, which oc- curred at the age of eighty years. He married Mary Fahs, daughter of Joseph and Barbara (Frederick) Fahs, the former of whom died while in the Revolutionary army; Mrs. Fahs later married a Lanius. Mrs. Mary (Fahs) Beck died at the age of sixty-eight years. Both John and Mary (Fahs) Beck are buried at

"As regards the writer's own family and children, it may be stated that his first wife left three children, two of whom, a boy and a Loganville. They had the following children : girl, died in infancy, but a boy, named John Sarah, the widow of Peter Goodling, living at Loganville with her son, E. B .: Mary, wife of John Tyson, of Indiana ; Barbara, who died unmarried; Joseph, who died young ; John F., our subject ; Emmeline, who died in 1904, the Livingston Ramsay, lived to be twenty-one years old. He had pursued his education until he had become a competent teacher, when he sickened and died. My second wife, who, af- ter seventeen happy useful years of married life wife of John Bahn; Rachel and George, who

John F Beck

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both died young; and Charles, also deceased. John F. Beck attended the schools of York and Loganville until twelve years of age, and assisted his father at farming. In 1852 he married Matilda Leader, daughter of Joseph and Catherine (King) Leader, who resided near York. After marriage Mr. Beck located on the home farm in Loganville, where he re- mained two years, after which he went to Dun- kard Valley, and bought a farm, remaining there four years. This farm he sold to pur- chase one of sixty-five acres along the Balti- more pike, where he remained nine years, when he again sold out and bought another farm, near Bupp's school, consisting of 130 acres, on which he remained twenty-three years. Mr. Beck came to his present home in 1889. his farm now consisting of 157 acres of fertile land. Here he is living retired.

Mr. Beck and his wife have the following children : Mary Catherine, who married Zacharias Reigart, of York; Charles F., a farmer of Springfield township, who married Olivia Howard; Milton G., of York, who mar- ried Sallie Innerst; Frank J., who married Rose Beck (no relative) ; Paul J., cashier of the First National Bank of Glen Rock, who married Catherine Hoover ; Emma A., wife of Alexander Diehl, a wholesale candy dealer, of York: Harry C., of Washington, who married Ida Crispin ; Martha J., who married Charles E. Fahs, of Paradise; and Dr. Harvey G. The last named is a graduate of the Baltimore Medical College, also spent a term at Vienna, and is now practicing his profession in Balti- more ; he was employed by Dale & Co., drug- gists, at York. He married Catherine Clogett, of Blairsville.

In 1884 Mr. Beck was elected county com- missioner, and he filled that office very effi- ciently. He has served the township of Spring- field as auditor, school director, and in many minor positions, and was inspector of the first election held at Loganville borough. He was appointed postmaster at Jacobus, and held that position for six years. During the Civil war Mr. Beck was a member of the committee to induce volunteering in the army. He is a member of the Lutheran Church. He is a stockholder in the Glen Rock National Bank, and since 1885 has been almost continuously a member of the board of directors.

REV. H. HENRY WALKER, pastor of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, in York, is one of the prominent members of the clergy of his church in Pennsylvania, and in his work of consecration he has been blessed with much of success, in both a spiritual and temporal sense. He has retained his present pastoral incumbency for the past thirty-two years, and it is needless to say that he has a strong hold upon the esteem and affectionate regard of his people, while he has labored with all of zeal and Christian humility in the vine- yard of the divine Master.

Mr. Walker is a native of the former king- dom of Hanover, Germany, having been born in the village of Brockhausen, principality of Osnabrueck, Sept. 28, 1842, son of Frederick and Gertrude (Schomburg) Walker, both de- ceased, the father having devoted the major portion of his active career to agricultural pur- suits and having been a man of noble attributes of character. Both he and his wife were de- voted members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In the family were nine children, of whom six are living, the subject of this sketch having been the sixth in order of birth.

H. Henry Walker passed the first decade of his life in Germany, in whose common schools he secured his rudimentary education, and in 1854 he accompanied his parents on their emi- gration to Ohio, the family settling in Cleve- land, and there our subject attended the parochial school of the Lutheran Church until confirmation. In 1857 Mr. Walker was matriculated in Concordia College, at Fort Wayne, Ind., in which institution he completed the classical course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1862, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His purpose had been all along to consecrate his life to the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and in the same year which marked his graduation in Concordia College he entered the Theological Seminary of his church in St. Louis, Mo., where he completed his divinity course, and was graduated in 1865. After one year's so- journ in Germany he was duly ordained in November, 1866. His first pastoral charge was that of St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Pater- son, N. J., a new mission just then started, where he remained incumbent until 1874, in the spring of which year he was called to his present charge, in which he has ever since con-

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tinued to serve with earnestness, fidelity and present time, covering a period of 228 years. loving zeal, while in the long period of more The York county Thomans are the de- scendants of John Jacob Thoman, of Buben- dorf, Canton Basel, Switzerland, and are widely disseminated in the United States, some being located in Chicago, prominent among them being Judge Leroy Thoman, one of the first Civil Service commissioners of the United States, appointed under President Cleveland's first administration ; others located in Philadelphia; and others scattered through Ohio, Indiana, Kansas and other points in the West. The greater number, however, are found in Pennsylvania, and, doubtless, in York and Adams counties, near Gettysburg, Ab- bottstown, Hanover, and Porter's Sideling. than thirty years he has not been denied the re- wards of his efforts in the uplift which he has been able to give to his fellow men and in the winning of souls to the Master whom he serves. Six calls were extended to him from as many different churches of his synod ; twice he was called to the presidency of his alma mater, the Concordia College at Fort Wayne, Ind. All these calls were declined. He has the distinction of being the oldest pastor in point of continuous service in York county, and he is well known to the people of this sec- tion of the State, where he has the warm friendship and regard of all. He is prominent in the work and councils of his church in gen- eral, and since 1899 has been president of the Eastern District of the Missouri Synod. This synod was organized in 1847, in Chicago, Ill., and now extends over nearly all the states of the Union, comprising over 2,000 ministers and more than 3,000 congregations. Mr. Walker is also a member of the board of trustees of Concordia College, a church insti- tution, at Hawthorne, Westchester Co., New York.

On Aug. 27, 1868, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Walker to Miss Ellen M. Melcher, daughter of Frederick and Engel (Scherler) Melcher, of Cleveland, Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Walker have been born eight children, of whom four died in early childhood or in- fancy. The others were: Marie L., a gradu- fate of the York Collegiate Institute, died in 1896, in her twenty-sixth year; Rev. Martin F. J., who was graduated at Concordia College, in Fort Wayne, Ind., and at the Theological Seminary at St. Louis, Mo., served three years in the ministry in the city of New York and is now a member of the faculty of Concordia Col- lege, Hawthorne, N. Y. ; Julius G. M., a mem- ber of the class of 1905. York Collegiate Insti- tute, and now a student at Concordia College, Fort Wayne, Ind., is likewise to enter the ministry of the church which his honored father has so dignified with his services; Lydia F. H. is a graduate of the York Collegiate Institute.

The earliest trace we have of the Thoman family is that of John Jacob Thoman, of Bubendorf, Switzerland. The following is a verbatim translation from a German manu- script, which was preserved for more than two. centuries, and which was brought from Swit- zerland to America by the first emigrants to this country : "Henry Thoman, from here, was honorably born of honorable parents and was baptized in the holy church, June 21, 1685, parents were John Jacob Thoman from here, and Margaret Bergellman; sponsors were Bartel Thoman and Jacob Stohler.

"Anna Schozze,'Henry's bride has her bap- tismal certificate from Holstein. They were legitimately married here Aug. 1, 1719, and had begotten a son, Hans Jacob, who was bap- tized Oct. 21, 1723; sponsors were Joki Stohler, Marti Marti and Anna Bergellman, all from here.

"Given with the gracious permission of the venerable Herr Landwacht, and from the holy baptismal register.

"BONIFACIUS BURKHARDT, " 'T' Vicarius, "Bubendorff, May 15, 1738."

The following data were found in Rupp's Collection of 30,000 Foreigners, names of Immigrants in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1880, List of Foreigners Imported, etc., Penn- sylvania Archives, 2d Series, Vol. XVII, page 159, viz. : "At Philadelphia, Sept. 11, 1738, 100 Palatines imported from Rotterdam in the ship Robert and Oliver of Dublin, Walter Goodman, Commander, last from Dover, took the oath of allegiance. Among those who signed their names were Heinrich Thoman

THOMAN FAMILY. The Thoman fam- ily of York and Adams counties is one of the oldest in that section of which a continuous trace has been kept. from Jan. 5, 1678, to the and Jacob Thoman. Henry signed his own

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name, but a clerk signed for Jacob, who was years, five months and sixteen days old. then a boy about sixteen years of age. Only Abraham Thoman, a son of John Jacob male passengers over sixteen years took the Thoman, was united in matrimony with Sa- oath, so that names of the women are not re- corded. There were 320 passengers aboard this vessel, so that there were more women than men."

The next data we find of the Thoman fam- ily after their landing at Philadlephia, are from the records kept by Rev. John Wald- schmidt, of Cocalico (now Ephrata), Lancas- ter Co., Pa., and handed down to his descen- dants. According to his baptismal record- book, Rev. Waldschmidt, pastor of the Re- formed Church of Cocalico, baptized the fol- lowing Thoman children at Cocalico: "John Jacob Thoman and Susanna, to them was born a son the 6th day of March, 1754, and was baptized the 7th of April, 1754. Sponsors were John Jacob Bollinger, and his wife, Anna Marie. The son was christened John Jacob. To the same was born a daughter, June 20, 1755, and was baptized July 13, 1755, chris- tened Anna Christina; sponsors were Philip Shaffer and his wife, Anna Christina."

Later data record a son born July 25, 1757,named Henry, a daughter, Nov. 20, 1759, named Margaret, a son Nov. 29, 1760, named Rudolph.

At this time the family removed from Co- calico to what is now known as Heidelberg township, York county (then Manheim town- ship), between Porter's Sideling and Smith's Station. At this place a large tract of land was purchased from the heirs of William Penn, consisting of about 600 acres, which later was divided into three or more farms, through which, in later years, the Hanover and Han- over Junction Railroad was built (now the Western Maryland railroad. A remarkable feature is that still a part of this tract of land is in the Thoman name, the owner being Aaron S. Thoman.

After locating here the following children were born :- Anna Maria, born Jan. 24, 1762; Catherine, born Jan. 6, 1764; Susannah, born Nov. 9. 1765; Abraham, born Dec. 18, 1767; Magdalena, born Sept. 1I, 1769; Elizabeth, born July 15, 1772; John, born Feb. 3. 1774. All of these children lived to the age of ma- turity. Both father and mother of this fam- ily died in the year 1804, the former being aged eighty-one years, ten months and thir- teen days, while the latter was seventy-two

lome Hinkle, and to them the following chil- dren were born : A son, born Feb. 26, 1806, name not given, who died in infancy; An- thony, born June 26, 1807; Jacob, born Nov. 8, 1808; Hannah, born Sept. 29, 1810; Lydia, born June 3, 1812; Magdalena, born May 12, 1814; Salome, born Dec. 18, 1815; David, born Feb. 19, 1818; Aaron, born Jan. 6, 1821 ; and Abraham, born July 11, 1822.

Of the above children, Anthony Thoman, who was born in Heidelberg township, York county, June 26, 1807, on the old Thoman homestead, to which reference has already been made, located between Smith's Station and Porter's Sideling; in early life he engaged in agricultural pursuits, and enjoyed the life of a farmer. He received his education in the old subscription schools, for a short time engaged in school-teaching, and later owned and man- aged a flouring mill near Seitzland, York county. On March 31, 1857, while a resident of Hanover, York county, he was married to Sarah Wildasin, daughter of Jacob Wildasin. From this union were born four children : Jeremiah, Alverta, Amos and Bertha, the two last named dying in infancy. In the spring of 1864 Mr. Thoman, with his family, removed from Hanover to Berwick township, Adams county, at which place he lived until the spring of 1883. In that year hie removed to Abbottstown, and there spent the remainder of his life.

Anthony Thoman was a man of in- tellect, a great reader, and took great pleasure in mental exercise. He wrote a beautiful hand, both in English and German, and among his writings can be seen quite a number of manu- scripts in both English and German, contain- ing thoughts and reflections on religious sub- jects, quotations of scriptural passages, poems selected and composed by himself, some writ- ten as early as 1822, when he was but fifteen years of age, thus giving clear evi- dence of the strong moral tendency of his nature. When a young man he became a member of the German Re- formed Church ( now Emmanuel) of Hanover, Pa. He remained in communion with the Re- formed Church during his life, and honored his profession by his devout and consecrated devotion to the principles and teachings of

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God's word. He loved the church and enjoyed School. After spending one year in that in- her services. His German Bible was the book stitution he again engaged in his profession, and rapidly advanced in his chosen calling. he loved the best. The preaching of the Gos- pel afforded him great delight, hence his last days were happy and full of blessed comfort ; the evening ot his life calm and serene. Mildly he passed away at the ripe age of eighty-one years, eight months, twenty-nine days.

As a citizen Mr. Thoman was highly es- teemed by all who knew him. The church and the community realized when he died that a good man had been called away, but his work was well done, and he now enjoys his reward. The funeral took place at his residence at Ab- bottstown, Wednesday morning, March 27, 1889, and his remains were interred in Mount Olive cemetery, at Abbottstown, after which the funeral services were held in the Reformed Church. Rev. Herbert, of New Oxford, offi- ciated, taking for his text the 29th and 30th verses of the 2d chapter of Luke: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation." Mr. Thoman's wife, Sarah, died Nov. 5, 1905, aged eighty years, eight months and nineteen days, and was also buried in the cemetery at Abbottstown.

PROF. J. W. THOMAN, son of Anthony H. and Sarah (Wildasin) Thoman, is, perhaps, known more widely than most men among the teachers and educators of Pennsyl- vania. He is a native of Hanover, Pa., where he was born July 17, 1858. At the age of six years he was placed in the public schools of his native town, and one year thereafter his parents removed to Adams county, near Ab- bottstown. In the winter young Thoman at- tended a country school, and in the summer he enjoyed the advantages of a select school at Abbottstown. His time, when not in school, was employed in working on the farm. In 1875 he entered the East Berlin Normal School, and attended a second term there the follow- ing year.

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 59

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