History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 7

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

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The earnest and effective work accom- plished by Mr. Lafean during his short Con- gressional career endeared him in the hearts of his constituents to such an extent that he was renominated for Congress for a third time by the Republican party. Notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Lafean's party was torn asunder by factional feeling on State issues, he, after the hardest fight known in the history of this Congressional district, defeated Horace Keesey, Esq., one of the most prominent Demo- crats and member of the York county Bar, by a plurality of 449.

In 1882 Mr. Lafean was married to Miss Emma Krone, of the city of York, and has three children: Stuart B., treasurer of the American Caramel Company and manager of the plant of this company at York; LeRoy, student at the University of Pennsylvania ; and Robert, in attendance at the public schools of York.

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

ALBERT HENRY LAFEAN, druggist, No. 199, and also held the responsible position was born at York, Pa., April 4, 1859, son of of eminent commander of York Commandery, No. 21. He belongs to the Royal Arcanum, the Artisans and the Bachelors Club. He is a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. In politics Mr. Lafean is an ardent Republican. He was elected to the common council for a term of two years from the Fourth ward of York, and he enjoys the distinction of having been elected on the Republican ticket in a Democratic ward-the first occurrence of the kind in the history of that ward. Charles F. Lafean, a prominent citizen of York. He obtained his education in the public schools of his native city, and in 1878 entered the Phila- delphia College of Pharmacy. After spending three years at that institution he was graduated, in the year 1881. In September, 1881, Mr. Lafean opened a drug store on the south side of West Market street, in a building formerly owned by Gen. Jacob Spangler, three doors west of his present store .. By diligence and ·careful attention to business he soon built up a large trade. In 1885 he moved his store to ELLIS SMYSER LEWIS, treasurer of the York Trust Company, is descended from two of the oldest families in York county, Pa. He was born in York, Pa., Feb. II, 1870, eldest son of Clay Eli and Ellen Sarah (Smy- ser) Lewis. No. II West Market street. Here he con- tinued to prosper in his business. In April, 1886, he took in, as a partner, his brother, Ed- ward Charles Lafean, who had recently grad- uated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. It was at this time that the firm of A. H. Lafean & Brother was established. In order to have increased facilities to enlarge their business the firm purchased in November, 1886, the building at Nos. 6 and 8 West Market . street, formerly the private residence of Hon. Henry Welsh, a leading citizen of York. After this valuable property was remodeled and changed from a private residence to a business house, the firm of A. H. Lafean & Brother, with improved opportunities, fitted up a drug store, and continued to do an extensive busi- ness. In 1904 they extended their room to a depth of II0 feet, and when completed and re- furnished it became one of the most commod- ious and best equipped drug stores in southern Pennsylvania. They have a large trade with the physicians of the city and county of York, as well as a successful general business. They also manufacture a number of specialties which have had a large sale.

Albert Henry Lafean was married to Ella A. Neiman, who died in 1890. She was the daughter of John Neiman, of York. Mr. Lafean's second wife was Elsie E. Berg, daughter of Rev. Andrew Berg, a Lutheran clergyman, who died at Leacock, Lancaster county. One son was born to Mr. Lafean by his first wife, Wilbur Leroy, a graduate of the York high school in 1901, of the Philadel- phiia College of Pharmacy in 1904, and now the representative of the American Silk Com- pany at Chicago.

Mr. Lafean is prominent in Masonic circles. He is a past master in Zeredatha Lodge, No. 451, served as high priest in Howell Chapter,

The Lewis family is of ancient lineage, and of Welsh origin. The founder of that branch of the Lewis family from whom the subject of this sketch traces his descent was Ellis ap Lewis, or Ellis Lewis [the fifth in de- scent from John ap Griffith, the second son of Griffith ap Howell (living 1542), Lord of Nan- nau in Wales], who was born in Merioneth- shire, Wales, about 1680, his father dying while he was quite young. He embraced the Quaker faith, which invited persecution, and about 1698 the family prepared to emigrate to Amer- ica but were prevented by illness, their house- hold goods, however, going on. Later they went to Ireland, and thence to Pennsylvania, Ellis Lewis' certificate of removal being dated at Mt. Mellick, Ireland, the 25th day of the 5th month, 1708.

Upon his arrival in Pennsylvania, Ellis Lewis went first to Haverford, subsequently settling in Kennett township, Chester county, where he was highly esteemed, being a "man of good understanding," and long an Elder of Friends. He was twice married, (first) at Concord Meeting, Chester county, Pa., on the 13th day of the second month, 1713, to Elizabeth Newlin; (second) at Falls Meeting, Bucks county, Pa., on the IIth day of the first month, 1723, to Mary Baldwin, a widow, who survived him. He died at Wilmington, Del., on the 31st day of the sixth month, 1750, and was buried at Kennett, Pennsylvania.

The first wife of Ellis Lewis, Elizabeth, was born on the 3d day of the first month, 1687 or 1688, daughter of Nathaniel Newlin,

BIOGRAPHICAL

the owner and settler of Newlin township in Chester county. Mr. Newlin was a member of the Provincial Assembly in 1698, et seq .; in 1700 one of the Committee on the Revision of the Laws and Government of Pennsylvania, subsequently a Justice of the County Courts (1703 et seq.), and one of the Proprietary's Commissioners of Property; from 1722 until his death in 1729, one of the Trustees of the General Loan Office of the Province. Mr. Newlin's first wife, mother of Elizabeth, was Mary Mendenhall, or Mildenhall, of Milden- hall, County Wilts, England, whom he mar- ried April 17, 1685. His father, Nicholas Newlin, an Englishman by birth, came from Mt. Mellick, Queen's county, Ireland, to Pennsylvania, in 1683, settling in Concord township, Chester county. In 1684 he was commissioned, by Governor Penn, one of the Justices of the Courts of the county, while in the following year he was called to the Council of the Governor and Proprietary, William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. Nicholas Newlin died in May, 1699.

Ellis Lewis had by his wife, Elizabeth Newlin, four children, namely: Robert, born 1714; Mary, born 1716; Nathaniel, born 1717; and Ellis, born the 22d day of the third month, 1719.

Ellis Lewis, son of Ellis the emigrant, was married on the 25th day of the second month, 1744, at Birmingham Meeting, Chester Co., Pa., to Ruth, daughter of John, an emigrant from Scotland to Chester county, and Ruth (Hind) Wilson, and died near Lewisberry, York county, Pa., in January, 1795, his wife surviving him. He, with John Rankin and Joseph Bennett, was among the first settlers in the northern part of York county, in what was known as Red Land Valley, near Lewis- berry. He had two children: Ellis; and Eli, born Jan. 31, 1750.

Eli Lewis, son of Ellis Lewis, the founder of Lewisberry, was commissioned Major of the First Battalion, York County Militia, Oct. I, 1777. He took part in the battles of the Brandywine and Germantown, being captured either during the latter battle or shortly after- ward, and imprisoned in the Old Sugar House in New York, which was used by the British during their occupancy of Philadelphia as a prison pen. He was a man of very fair liter- ary ability, and in 1792 wrote a poem of con- siderable merit, entitled "St. Clair's Defeat,"

"Inspired by grief, to tender friendship due, The trembling hand unfolds the tale to view .- A tale which strongly claims the pitying tear, And ev'ry feeling heart must bleed to hear."

In August, 1790, he started the Harris- burg Monitor and Weekly Advertiser, the first newspaper published in the Capital City. In 1798 he laid out the town of Lewisberry. He was connected with many public enterprises. Eli Lewis was married at Londongrove Monthly Meeting, Chester county, Pa., Nov. IO, 1779, to Pamela Webster, who was born Nov. 19, 1759, daughter of John and Jane (Brinton) Webster. Mrs. Lewis died Feb. 20, 1803, and her husband died Feb. 1, 1807. They had children as follows: Webster, born Oct. 18, 1780; Eliza, born 1782; Phoebe, born 1784; Pamela, born 1787 ;. Eli, born 1789, president of the First National Bank, York, Pa .; Juliet, born 1792; Juliet, born 1794; James, born 1796, attorney-at-law, York, Pa., and president of York Bank; and Ellis, born 1798, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania 1854- 1857.

Webster Lewis, eldest son of Eli, was born near what is now the town of Lewisberry, Pa., and died at New Cumberland, Cumberland Co., Pa., May 28, 1832. He was a physician, and practiced his profession in the country surrounding Lewisberry. He led in the inno- vation of growing the poppy and making the opium used in his practice. He was also skilled in the knowledge and practice of law in the courts of York county, to which he was ad- mitted in 1820. He married July 25, 1798, Mary Nebinger, born March 10, 1779, died Nov. 16, 1830, daughter of Dr. George and Ann (Rankin) Nebinger. Ann Rankin was a descendant of John Rankin and Joseph Ben- nett, referred to earlier in this sketch. They had children as follows : Robert Nebinger, born July 30, 1799; Ann, born 1801 ; George W., born 1803; Rankin, born 1804; Rebecca M., born 1808; Eli, born 1811; Andrew, born 1813; and James W., born 1815.

Robert Nebinger Lewis, eldest son of Webster and Mary (Nebinger) Lewis, was born at or near Lewisberry, Pa., and died near Weigelstown, York county, March 16, 1846. He was a physician of great ability and prac- ticed for a time with his father at Lewisberry, but later located at Dover, York county, at which place he lived at the time of his death. He, with his father, was an active agent of the

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

so-called "Underground Railroad," by which method numerous slaves were aided on their way to Canada from Maryland and the South. Several attempts were made on his life by the slave hunters when they found themselves balked in their efforts to recover their escap- ing slaves. On March 28, 1822, Robert Neb- inger Lewis married Mary Moore, born Feb. 28, 1801, died Dec. 17, 1867, daughter of John and Sarah (Pugh) Moore. Mary Moore was a descendant of Andrew Moore, who settled in Red Land Valley, York county, about 1745 or earlier. They had children as follows : Josephine S., born 1823, married Dr. Samuel Meisenhelder ; Rebecca M., born 1825, married Samuel Smyser; Rush Webster, born 1827; Orfila I., born 1830; Mary A. H., born 1833, married D. F. Wilt; Melchinger R., born 1838; and Clay Eli, born April 5, 1844.

Clay Eli Lewis, youngest son of Robert Nebinger and Mary (Moore) Lewis, was born in Dover, Pa., and at the time of his death in York, Dec. 10, 1897, was cashier of the West- ern National Bank of York, and connected in an official capacity with several other local corporations. He married April 26, 1869, in York, Ellen Sarah Smyser, second daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Weaver) Smyser, and had the following children : Ellis Smyser, born Feb. II, 1870; Joseph Smyser, druggist ; Mabel R., who was married to Morton C. Wilt; Sadie M., married to Ralph D. Smyser; Clay E., attorney-at-law; Ellen K .; Margaret Violet; and Mathias Smyser, at- tending school at Bordentown, N. J., Military Institute. Joseph Smyser, born Feb. 1, 1811, died Jan. 31, 1903, father of Mrs. Lewis, was the fourth in descent from Matthias Smyser, who was born Feb. 17, 1715, at Reigelbach, Parish Lustenau, Germany, from which place he emigrated in 1731, first settling in York county near Kreutz Creek, subsequently settling about three miles west of York on the farm now be- longing to the Orphans' Home of York. This property was bequeathed to that institution by the late Samuel Smyser, a brother of the Joseph referred to above.

to accept the position of cashier of the private bank of Smyser, Bott & Co., and upon its con- solidation with the York Trust Company in No- vember, 1894, became teller of the latter institu- tion. In October, 1899, he was elected treas- urer of the York Trust Company, which posi- tion he now holds. He is also connected with a number of local corporations, being treasurer of the following concerns : The York & Dover Electric Railway Co .; York & Dallastown Electric Railway Co .; Wrightsville & York Street Railway Co .; Red Lion & Windsor Street Railway Co .; York Haven Street Rail- way Co .; York & Hanover Street Railway Co .; Wellsville Street Railway Co .; York & Maryland Line Street Railway Co .; York Steam Heating Co .; Edison Electric Light Co .; Westinghouse Electric Light, Heat & Power Co .; York Light, Heat & Power Co .; York Improvement Co .; York Suburban Land Co .; Hanover & McSherrystown Street Railway Co .; and Hanover Light, Heat & Power Co. He is a director, vice-president and treasurer of the York Engineering Co .; a director and treasurer of the Pennsylvania Securities Co .; treasurer of the York County Street Railways Beneficial Association ; and he is treasurer and secretary of the West End Sewer Co .; York Hotel Co .; Gettysburg (Pa.) Gas Co .; and Susquehanna & York Borough Turnpike Co .; a director and secretary of the Star Building & Loan Association ; and a director of the York Transit Co. (Buffalo, New York).

He is a member of the following societies : York Lodge, No. 266, F. & A. M. (of which lodge he is a past master) ; Howell Chapter, No. 199, Royal Arch Masons; York Comman- dery, No. 21, Knights Templar; Harrisburg Consistory, 32d degree, A. A. S. R .; Pennsyl- vania Society of Sons of the Revolution; The Colonial Society of Pennsylvania; Vigilant Steam Fire & Chemical Engine Co., No. I, of York, Pa .; Royal Fire Company, No. 6, of York, Pa .; and York County Historical So- ciety. Mr. Lewis is a Lutheran, a member of St. Paul's English Evangelical Lutheran Church, and was a member of its church coun- cil from 1894 to 1899, during which time he was its secretary.

Ellis Smyser Lewis was born in York, Pa., and was educated in the public schools of his native city, and the York County Academy. In 1885 he entered the Western In politics Mr. Lewis is a Republican, but until recently has taken no active part in politi- National Bank of York as clerk, and in a few years became its teller. In 1891 he resigned cal affairs. In 1904 he was elected a member

BIOGRAPHICAL

of the Select Council from the Eleventh ward

Adam Klinefelter, father of Frederick, was of York, for a period of four years, and in born near Shrewsbury, Pa., April 9, 1796, and April, 1905, he was elected president of the Select Council for the ensuing year. In April, 1906, he was again elected to the same position. died in York, May 1, 1871. He was a son of Michael Klinefelter. Sarah (Doudel) Kline- felter, mother of Frederick, was born in York, Oct. 18, 1794, and died in that city Nov. 30, 1867. Her parents were Jacob and Catherine (Dinkel) Doudel.

On June 14, 1894, Mr. Lewis married, in Greencastle, Pa., Emma Wilson, daughter of Captain and Rev. Frederick and Anna E. (Wilson) Klinefelter, and their children are : Anna Wilson and Ellis. Mrs. Lewis is a mem- her of the Yorktown Chapter of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, her father's grandfather having served as a soldier of that war.

Frederick Klinefelter, father of Mrs. Lewis, was a descendant of Melchoir Kline- felter, who emigrated from Germany to Penn- sylvania in 1750, and settled near Shrewsbury. He was born in York, Sept. 26, 1836, young- est son of Adam and Sarah (Doudel) Kline- felter, and died in that city July 28, 1903. He enlisted twice in the Union army during the Civil war. He left Gettysburg College, where he was a student, on Lincoln's call for three months' men, and enlisted April 25, 1861, in Company H, 16th Pa. V. I., served under Gen. Patterson in Maryland and Virginia, and was discharged at the expiration of his term of en-

was commissioned by Governor A. G. Curtin Captain of Company A, 26th Pennsylvania Militia, a company composed of students of the Theological Seminary and College at Gettysburg, and mustered out in August, 1863. On Aug. 7, 1863, he was drafted for United States service, but was relieved Aug. 25th of the same year by paying $300 commutation.

Frederick Klinefelter graduated from Pennsylvania College in 1862; he was a mem- ber of the Phi Gamma Delta. He graduated from the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg Pa., in 1864, and was ordained to the ministry at Hanover, Pa., Sept. 5th, of that year. He married (first) Sept. 4, 1866, Anna Elizabeth, who was born July 16, 1832, and died June 14, 1884, daughter of David G. and Emma (Moore) Wilson, of Philadelphia. David G. Wilson was a son of John and Ann (Wood) Wilson; his wife, Emma, was a daughter of Enoch and Elizabeth (Alderman) Moore. Mr. Klinefelter married (second) April 2, 1891, Clara A. Wunderlich, of Chambersburg, who died suddenly Aug. 3, 1904, at Moore's, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania.

Jacob Doudel, who was born June 28, 1760, and died Sept. 21, 1837, enlisted in 1776, as a drummer boy in Capt. Michael Doudel's Company, of York, under Col. Swope. He en- listed again in November, 1782, under Capt. Ford, Major Bailey commanding.

GEORGE E. NEFF, member of the law firm of Niles & Neff, of York, was born Aug. 12, 1860, at Wenona, Marshall Co., Ill., son of George W. and Mary Ann (Lehr) Neff. Mr. Neff attended the public schools of York, Pa., graduating from the high school in the class of 1877, after which he took up the read- ing of law. He received his preparation for the profession under William H. Kain, Esq., now deceased, and was admitted to the Bar July 15, 1882. In October, 1884, Mr. Neff formed a partnership with W. F. Bay Stewart and Henry C. Niles, the firm taking the name listment, July 31, 1861. On June 17, 1863, he of Stewart, Niles & Neff, and continuing as such until Mr. Stewart was elected Judge. Since January 1, 1896, it has been Niles & Neff. Mr. Neff was in the public service as member of the common council of York in 1885. He is a member of St. Paul's Evangel- ical Lutheran Church of York.

GEORGE W. HEIGES (deceased). Sel- dom has any man in public life won for him- self so warm a place in the esteem and af- fection of all who were brought in contact with him as did George W. Heiges during the thirty odd years he spent in York. The city of York lost a favored son in his death, but she did not sorrow alone. The county of York mourned a distinguished public ser- vant, and the State of Pennsylvania was de- prived of the services of an eminent practi- tioner of law. His death occurred Dec. 3, 1900.

George W. Heiges was born in Dillsburg, York county, May 18, 1842, son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Mumper) Heiges, and he was reared at Dillsburg, where he attended the pub- lic schools, also going to the Normal school and

HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Newville Academy. At the age of seventeen years Mr. Heiges began teaching in the vicin- ity of his home, and in 1861 located in York, to accept a position under his brother, Samuel B. Heiges, superintendent of the York schools. In the fall of 1862 Mr. Heiges took charge of the Cottage Hill college, which he conducted until 1865, when it was closed, and he took up the study of law under D. J. Williams. After being admitted to the Bar he located in York, opening an office alone, and from that time until his death practiced law extensively. Mr. Heiges served in the State Legislature in 1873 and 1874, and filled the office of burgess of York borough, being the last to fill that office. Mr. Heiges was ever ready to aid his city or county in any way, and his influence in the Democratic ranks, of which he was a stanch member, was such that he was many times ap- pointed to stump the State, when the occasion warranted. When his services were in de- mand, Mr. Heiges was ever ready, and the effect of his work was felt throughout the county.

Mr. Heiges was a member of the F. & A. M., charter member of Zeredatha Lodge of York, No. 451, P. M .; Howell Chapter No. 199, past high priest; York Commandery, No. 21, P. C .; member of the I. O. O. F .; was a member of the State Bar Association and of the Pennsylvania German Society. He was a communicant of St. John's Episcopal Church, and was a member of the choir for many years, being the first leader of the boy choir, and was also active in Sabbath school work.

George W. Heiges married in York, Mary E. Gallager, daughter of John and Frances A. (Days) Gallager ; she died Dec. 7, 1905. Mr. and Mrs. Heiges had two children : Helen D., who died in 1896, at the age of twenty years ; and Stuart S., at home. The latter is organist at the First M. E. Church, and leader of the City Band of York, of which he has been con- ductor since he was nineteen years of age, be- ing one of the youngest band leaders in the State, and he is also an instructor on the clar- inet, and gives private lessons on the piano.

abeth Patterson, who became the wife of Bona- parte. Thomas Gallager married a Miss Mc- Elhinny, a native of London, and after locat- ing in Westmoreland county, settled upon a large farm upon which he lived until his death. He was one of the prosperous citizens of that section of Pennsylvania, and was vestryman of the Episcopal Church at Greensburg. He reared a large family, whom he gave the ad- vantages of a good education.

John Gallager, Mrs. Heiges' father, was born in 1802, and died in 1865, in York, in the home where Mrs. Heiges resided. He was educated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, and when a young man went to Baltimore, Md., and associated himself with Thomas and James Harwood, commission merchants, in 1830 com- ing to York where he engaged in a mercantile business, which he followed until his death. He was vestryman of St. John's Episcopal Church, and V. P. of St. Patrick's Beneficial Society. He married Miss Frances A. Day, of Frederick, Md., who was of German ances- try. She died in 1847, at the age of thirty- three years, the mother of two children: Isa- bella, the widow of I. A. Coombs, a soldier of the Civil war; and Mary G., who married George W. Heiges.

EDMUND W. MEISENHELDER, M. D. For a long period of years, commencing as early as 1683, and continuing, practically with a steadily increasing flow, to the very dawn of the American Revolution, a great tide of Ger- man immigrants, mostly from the Palatinate, swept across the Atlantic to the shores of this Western world. The wanton destruction of towns and cities; the unnecessary and wide- spread devastation of landed estates; the in- dustrial depression which affected all the walks of life; the political and religious ostracism and oppression everywhere prevalent, as at- tendant and dependent upon the great conti- nental wars, left an aftermath of poverty and want, of distress and of suffering, so bitter, and of conditions, political and religious, so chaotic and so trying, as to impel thousands of all classes and conditions to look elsewhere for some ray of hope to pierce the almost im- penetrable gloom of a situation no longer en- durable.

The parents of Mrs. Heiges are both de- ceased. The father came from County Done- gal, town of Ramelton, Ireland, with his par- ents at the age of twelve years, locating in To these anxious seekers for a brighter day, for a land of promise, wherein there should be Westmoreland county. His father was Thomas Gallager, whose father was a cousin of Eliz- absolute freedom of conscience, and where

BIOGRAPHICAL

each, without onerous restrictions, could reap the fruit of his labors, none appealed with such force and favor as the land of Penn. Doubt- less the glamour of this far-distant country, picture of fact and fancy, so different from their own miserable surroundings, added en- chantment to the view, and in these sylvan shades they sought that release from care and anxiety elsewhere denied. To this great Com- monwealth, rich in material resources, with boundless treasure hidden in the bowels of the earth, with its wooded hills and valleys, and soil of unsurpassed fertility, that great in- fusion of German blood, inspired by an ardent love for liberty, tempered by a safe con- servatism, and by profound religious convic- tions, was a Godsend-a blessing of untold magnitude-reaching through all the years that now lie buried in the past, yet finding un- diminished force in the living present. Of the history of this great State they have illumined every page; theirs is no ignoble place; not less than others they have blazed their way to name and fame. Never, on field or forum, have they played a minor part; in battle their blood has flowed as freely, and in the council chamber their wisdom has shone as brilliantly, as that of those born under other skies.

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 7

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