History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 81

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

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Jacob Hutton was born in 1812, in New- berry township, and received his education in the common schools of the township. He learned the carpenter's trade when a youth fol- lowing this occupation for about seven years. Mr. Hutton was a skilled mechanic and erected many buildings, besides doing some cabinet work. He commenced farming in Newberry township, where he bought a tract of land con- sisting of 145 acres, upon which he built sev- eral fine structures. He also owned three other farms in Newberry township and a very large farm in Cumberland county. Mr. Hut- ton followed agricultural pursuits up to the time of his death, Jan. 17, 1894, and his knowledge of agriculture was conceded to be thorough and scientific. Mr. Hutton was buried in Fairview township. He married Jane Strominger, daughter of Jacob Stromin- ger, and she now resides with her son, Paris, in Upper Allen township, Cumberland county, having attained the ripe old age of eighty-five years. Jacob Hutton was a Republican in pol- itics and was greatly interested in the success of his party. He served as school director of Newberry township. The children born to Jacob and Jane Hutton were as follows: Ra- chel married Andrew Miller, and resides in Lower Allen township, Cumberland county ; Jacob met death at the age of thirteen years, six months, by being struck by lightning ; Daniel married Mary Jane Starr, and resides at Lewisberry; Lucinda lives with her sister Rachel: Andrew S .; John is a farmer in Up- per Allen township, Cumberland county : Alice died at the age of three years ; and Paris is re- siding in Cumberland county.

Andrew S. Hutton attended the public schools until eighteen years of age, and then remained home, assisting his father on the farm until his twenty-fourth year, when he married Jane Miller, daughter of Henry F. and Mary Ann (Groom) Miller of Lewis- berry. After their marriage Mr. Hutton and his wife located in Newberry township, on one of his father's farms, where they remained four years, then removing to Fairview town- ship and living there for five years. They then

removed to Lower Allen township, Cumber- land county, but one year later returned to Fairview. There they remained two years, and then came to the old home in Newberry township, where Mr. Hutton farmed for six- teen years. In 1891 Mr. Hutton located in Lewisberry borough and bought eight acres of land, upon which he built a fine residence. The farm in the township consists of 154 acres of fine land, which Mr. Hutton cultivated to a high state, but, having accumulated a large competency, he retired from active life.

The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hutton : Seward married a Miss Zinn, and follows farming in Fairview township; Cora married Israel Zinn, and lives on the old homestead in Newberry township; Celia married Ira Gilmore and lives in Fair- view township: Sylvan M. formerly taught school in Newberry township, attended Princeton University from which he gradu- ated in 1902, taught a graded school at Edge- wood, N. J., and one term at Chestnut Level, Lancaster county, read law for a time, and Jan. 6, 1904, accepted a position in San Fran- cisco, Cal., in the' Government weather bu- reau; and Elsie married S. Ensminger, a butcher at Lewisberry. Mr. Hutton is a stanch Republican. Both he and his wife are connected with the M. E. Church, in which he is trustee. Mr. Hutton is a man of honesty and integrity, and is honored and respected by all who know him.

ANDREW A. AND WILLIAM W. MAF- FET. So far as is known the Maffet family in America is descended from Scotch-Irish stock. James Maffet, Sr., the great-grand- father of the gentlemen whose names open this sketch, was born in the North of Ireland, and his wife's name was Margaret. He emi- grated to the United States, then the Colonies, settling at Hopewell Center, York Co., Pa., where he carried on farming until his death, which occurred in 1825;

William Maffet, son of James, Sr., also followed farming during his active years. On Jan. 13, 1801, he married Jane Thompson, of Hopewell township, who had been previously married. To this union children were born as follows: William, born March 10, 1802; Agnes, March 13, 1804; Margaret, Sept. 29, 1806; James P., March 17, 1809; Jane T.,

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Jan. 28, 1812; Eliza, July 22, 1814; Andrew, Mary ( Wallace) Anderson, of Hopewell June 6, 1817; Mary E., Oct. 30, 1819; and Asemiah May 3, 1822. Mr. and Mrs. Maffet were members of the Presbyterian Church. Politically he was an old-line Whig. William Maffet died Aug. 12, 1831, while his widow survived until February, 1841.

James P. Maffet, father of Andrew A. and William W., was born in Fawn township, York county. His education, as far as school- ing went, was somewhat limited, as he only attended school for a few months. He was, however, one of those who grasp advantages and opportunities as they arise, and he became a good business man, and one well informed on local affairs. In early life he devoted much of his time to freighting overland, between Muddy Creek Forks and the city of Balti- more, Md., a distance of forty miles. He hauled the farmers' produce to Baltimore, where he exchanged it for goods suitable to his trade, having, in 1841, moved to Muddy Creek Forks, and in a rented building on the Hopewell side of the creek started a general store, where he did a good business for about three years. In 1844 he purchased 160 acres of land lying in the three townships that join at Muddy -Creek Forks, which purchase in- cluded the land on the Chanceford side of the creek, now the railroad station, where there were then a dwelling, a grist mill and a barn. Here Mr. Maffet continued the general mer- chandising business, and also engaged in mill- ing and farming. The mill here became noted for making a good quality of buckwheat meal. Before the farms in the lower end of the coun- ty had reached their present state of fertility a large acreage of buckwheat was farmed and the mill was kept busy each fall and winter for over thirty years in manufacturing buckwheat meal, most of which was hauled to Baltimore by the farmers' teams. Mr. Maffet conducted his various interests successfully until the spring of 1885, when he retired from business. He was postmaster at Muddy Creek Forks from 1875 to 1888, when he moved with his · sons and daughter, Maggie E., to Peach Bot- tom township. By thrift and industry he ac- cumulated a handsome competency, and at the time of his death, in 1893, was considered one of the substantial men of the locality.

Mr. Maffet was married Feb. 3, 1842, to Margaret Anderson, daughter of Andrew and

township, and the following named children were born to this worthy couple: Andrew A .. born June 8, 1843; Mary J., born Dec. 18, 1844; William W., born April 10, 1847; and Annie E. and Maggie E., both deceased. Mr. Maffet was a member of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he was a Republican, but he never took much interest in party affairs, and never sought political office.

Andrew A. Maffet was educated in the common schools of Lower Chanceford town- ship, and also took an academic course at Pleasant Grove, and spent a short time at Brogueville. For seven years he taught school very successfully, becoming well and favora- bly known as an educator, and then turned his attention to the various business interests of his father. In the spring of 1885 Andrew A. and William W. Maffet succeeded their father, James P. Maffet, in the mercantile business at Muddy Creek Forks, and conducted same successfully for three years, under the firm name of Maffet Bros. They have since con- tinued their farming and other business under the same firm name. They continued at Muddy Creek Forks until 1888, when they located in Peach Bottom township, where they pur- chased 105 acres of good farm land, to the op- eration of which they have since devoted their time. They hold an interest in two steam threshing outfits and in a steam sawmill, and are among the substantial men of their com- munity.

William W. Maffet assisted in his father's business from an early age until his marriage to Sallie J. Stewart, in 1876, when he and his wife moved to Charlotte county, Va., on a farmn owned by his father, and engaged in farming for one year. They then returned to Muddy Creek Forks, Mr. Maffet farming two years for his father. He then moved into Windsor township, where he did a general merchandise business for five years, returning to Muddy Creek Forks in the spring of 1885. His business operations since that time have been already mentioned. He is a director in the First National Bank of Delta.

In 1876, as stated, William W. Maffet married Sallie J. Stewart, daughter of Wil- liam and Mary P. Stewart, and a cousin of Judge W. F. Bay Stewart, of York, Pa., and two children were born to this union: A

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

daughter who died in infancy in Virginia, and James W., who assists his uncle and father on the farm. Mrs. Maffet died Oct. 17, 1887. In 1889 Mr. Maffet married ( second) Anna E. Fulton, daughter of Robert and Mary E. Fulton, and to this union one son has been born, Robert P., who is attending school.

The Maffet brothers are both Republicans. Andrew is holding the office of justice of the peace, to which position he was first elected in 1896, his present term expiring in May, 1906; he was reelected Feb. 20, 1906, for his third term of five years. William has held the office of school director for two terms of three years each. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church. Andrew Maffet served as elder in the Harmony Church at Brogue- ville until his removal to Peach Bottom town- ship, since which time lie has been elder in the Slate Ridge Presbyterian Church, in which his brother, William W., is superintendent of the Sunday-school. The brothers are men of sterling worth and are highly esteemed by all with whom they have come in contact.

Mary J. Maffet, sister of the Maffet broth- ers, married Grier T. Barnett, of Lower Chanceford township. She received an acade- mic education, and taught school in this com- munity very successfully for ten terms.

JOHN RANKIN FETROW is engaged in general farming on his tract of 154 acres in Fairview township, York county. He was born Feb. 17, 1866, in Fairview township, son of Franklin S. and Elizabeth (Sheally) Fet- row.

Philip Fetrow, the great-great-grandfather of John R., was born in Germany, May I, 1719, and, coming to America, settled on a large tract of land in Conewago township, York county, where he died March 7, 1791, aged seventy years, one month and seven days. His wife Anna Mary died at the age of seventy-three years, and both were buried in York City. The children born to this union were: Philip, the great-grandfather of John R. Fetrow; Joseph; Andrew; John ; Michael, and .Catherine, who married a Mr. Jacobs.

Philip Fetrow was born in October, 1776, in Conewago township, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. At the age of twenty- four years he went to Newberry township, where he continued in the farming, milling and

distilling industries. In 1839 he built a house near the Ball hills, where he died in 1868. He married (first) Elizabeth Boyer, by whom he had the following children : Samuel; David, grandfather of John Rankin; Mary; Ann; Sarah; Susan, and Elizabeth. Mr. Fetrow's second marriage was to Ruby Thorbling, by whom these children were born: Lydia; Leah; Rachel; and Jane, who is the family historian, living in Newberry township on the old home. She married Samuel Dellinger.

David Fetrow was born in Newberry town- ship, where he engaged in farming, also pur- suing this occupation in Fairview township. He married a Miss Shutter, who died in New- berry township at the age of eighty-four years. Mr. Fetrow died in Kansas. These good peo- ple were the parents of William, living in Kan- sas; Franklin S., the father of John R .; Henry, who was killed at the battle of Antie -. tam, in the Civil war; Miller, who lives in Kansas; Sarah Jane, who was married to George Fetrow, living in Kansas ; and one child who died young.

Franklin S. Fetrow was born in 1835 in Newberry township, where he received a com- mon-school education. He remained at home, assisting his father on the farm, until his mar- riage to Elizabeth Sheally, daughter of Fred- erick and Barbara (Eichelberger ) Sheally, when he took the homestead of 154 acres and upon it spent all of his life, dying there in 1892. He was very well known in the com- munity in which he lived so many years, and was popular and highly esteemed in the town- ship. His estimable wife passed away in 1896 and she, as well as her husband, are interred at Mt. Zion cemetery, Fairview township. In politics Mr. Fetrow was a Republican, and took great interest in the success of his party. He served as school director of the township. In his religious belief he was a devoted men- ber of the Lutheran Church. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Franklin S. Fetrow were as follows: Samuel, who married Susan Snaveley, lives in Cumberland county ; John Rankin ; Jacob S., married Ida Snyder, and is living at Lewisberry ; Grant, who married Jen- nie Smith, is living in Cumberland county ; Clara, who married John R. Snyder, lives in Fairview township, and Jennie, who married George Miller, lives in Newberry township.

John Rankin Fetrow received his educa-

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tion in the Cross Roads school which he at- Connelly; she was born in Scotland, in the tended until he was twenty-one years of age, birthplace of Robert Burns. Mrs. Green died at the age of sixty-eight years, and her husband when seventy-six years old. Both are buried in Elkton, Md. The children born to them were as follows: Francis, a blacksmith in Ridgely, Caroline Co., Md .; Thomas ; Philip, a resident of Conewago township, York coun- ty ; Sarah, who married the late Charles Egg- man, of Philadelphia, and Mary, Mrs. Thomas Kelly, of New York City. working on the farm for his father in the meantime. In 1894 he was married to Annie Bowen, a daughter of Levi and Martha ( Wis- tler) Bowen, and after their union the young couple settled on the old homestead, which came into Mr. Fetrow's possession at the death of his father. Mr. Fetrow has cultivated the land up to the highest standard, has made many improvements on the farm in general, and is a very prosperous and enterprising young man. He attends the Harrisburg markets.

The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. John R. Fetrow: Celia, Hazel and Franklin, very bright little members of the Fetrow household. In his political views Mr. Fetrow believes in the principles of the Republican party. Religiously he is a mem- ber of the Church of God, in which he is treas- urer and trustee. Mr. Fetrow stands in a high position among the capable and enterprising business men of his county.

THOMAS GREEN, superintendent of the York Haven Water & Power Co., who was born June 11, 1847, in Cecil county, Md., has already behind him a long array of im- portant works, splendidly done, and has estab- lished his name as an able and reliable con- tractor over a wide area.

Francis Green, father of Thomas, was a native of the North of Ireland and spent his younger days there. Migrating later to Eng- land he engaged in the tile business, roofing and flooring, until 1840, when he came to America and landed in New York. Continu- ing his journey as far as Cecil county, Md., he there established himself in the contracting business. While the greater part of his busi- ness was in building dams and developing water power, he was very well known for his ability along general construction lines, and made a broad reputation for himself. He did much work for Dupont, the powder manufact- urer in Wilmington, Del., and also built and owned nine miles of plank road between Elk- ton, Md., and Lewisville, Pa. Mr. Green was a member of the Catholic Church, and in his political views was a Republican, although in his earlier years he was a Democrat. He married Sarah Connelly, daughter of Neil

Thomas Green attended school in Cecil county, Md., until he was fifteen years of age. and then enlisted in Company H, known as Purnall's Legion of Baltimore, but being soon transferred to the Ist Maryland, served for three years in the Army of the Potomac, par- ticipating in the battles of Antietam, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and others. He was mus- tered out March 14, 1864. Mr. Green then learned the construction business under his father, and in 1870 took his first independent position with the Jessup & Moore Paper Com- pany. of Wilmington, Del. From this he re- signed to form a co-partnership with his father, which continued until 1876, he return- ing to the Jessup & Moore Paper Company in order to construct a reservoir. This he com- pleted in 1877, and then entered the shops of Pusey & Jones, to learn the machinist's trade, remaining there until 1884. In November of that year he came to York Haven to build the plant for the York Haven Paper Company. at the time of its construction the largest mill of the kind in the State, and now one of York county's flourishing industries. He su- perintended the plant for one and one-half years after its completion, when he resigned to accept a position with the Maryland Steel Company, at Sparrow's Point. Md., remaining in that company's employ in charge of their construction work for three and one-half years, and resigning to accept a position with the City of Wilmington as inspector of streets and sewers. At the end of three and one-half years he resigned to accept a position as super- intendent of construction of the Hammer Mill at Erie, Pa., a plant that was installed by a German syndicate at a cost of $1,000,000, and at that time one of the most up-to-date plants of the kind in the world. After completing the plant named he returned to York Haven to superintend the construction of the York Ha-

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

ven Water & Power Company's plant and is both she and her husband are interred there at Zion Church cemetery.

still efficiently serving in that position. Num- erous works of similar importance, con- structed by Mr. Green, could be described, but the significance of his achievements can be seen from these.

Mr. Green was married, in 1875, to Miss Adelia McGready, daughter of Cornelius and Annie ( Elkin) McGready, of Maryland. To them have been born six children, namely : Harry C., a machinist and assistant superin- tendent for his father, also a member of the school board, married to Nora Mills, of Clay- ton, Del. ; Thomas, Jr., a clerk in the office of the Water & Power Company, who married Myrtle Bushey, of Dillsburg, Pa .; Francis, unmarried, who is also employed in the Water & Power Company ; Joseph, John Russell and James Powers, all attending school. The family home was bought by Mr. Green in 1902, and the view of the Susquehanna which it commands is one of the finest in the country. Mr. Green is a member of the Catholic Church. Politically he has always been a Re- publican, and has done good service for his party. He has served as a member of the council for York Haven, and is in every way a good citizen. His first vote was cast for Abra- ham Lincoln while serving in the army, and he was the only one of his company to vote for him : he was also one of the judges of elec- tion at that time. Mr. Green commands the entire respect of his associates not only for his ability and success in the business world, but for his personal worth as a man.

CHRISTIAN T. GROVE, registrar of wills and chief burgess of Felton borough, is actively engaged in the carriage and farm im- plement business, and was born Aug. 19, 1864, in Fawn township, York Co., Pa., son of Charles and Elizabeth (Leib) Grove.

John Grove, grandfather of Christian T., married a Mis's Shaffer, and was a farmer until the time of his death in Fawn township.

Christian T. Grove attended the public schools until he was eighteen years of age and then spent one term at the Millersville State Normal School. He remained at home until the age of twenty-two years, when he engaged in a mercantile business, on the corner of Broad and Walnut streets, in York City, and then removed to Airville, where he was a mer- chant for one year. In 1893 he went into part- nership with J. R. Anderson, locating at Mr. Grove's present place of business, under the firm name of Anderson & Grove, it continu- ing as such for five years, when Mr. Grove bought his partner's interest and has since been conducting the business himself.

Mr. Grove was reared in the faith of the M. E. Church. Politically he has always been a stanch Republican, and since his majority has been actively connected with his party. He served as the first chief burgess of Felton bor- ough, and has continuously held that office. He was a member of the school board for seven years, and has been its secretary. At the Republican convention held in York in 1904, Mr. Grove was nominated registrar of wills and at the fall election was chosen to the office by a majority of 3,126 votes. Frater- nally he has associated himself with the Knights of Pythias, of Felton, in which he is past chancellor commander ; while in the Ma- sonic order he belongs to Shrewsbury Lodge F. & A. M., the Royal Arch Chapter of York, and Gethsemane Commandery, No. 76, of York. Mr. Grove is known to be a man of integrity and strict reliability and no one in Felton stands higher in public esteem.

LOUIS GOE PFAFF, a prominent cigar manufacturer of Hanover, and one of the busi- ness men whose success has been attained by his own efforts, is a native of Germany. He was born in the town of Grossenlinden, near the city of Gissen, July 11, 1850, one of the six children, four boys and two girls, of John and Katherine (Focht) Pfaff. The father was a miller by trade.

Charles Grove, son of John, was born in Fawn township, and was a miller from his youth. In later years he was a farmer, and he died on his homestead in Fawn township in Louis G. Pfaff received an excellent educa- tion in the Fatherland, entering the public 1897. In politics he was a Republican. He married Miss Elizabeth Leib, daughter of Jo- schools at the age of six years, and remaining seph and Elizabeth (Anstine) Leib. Mrs. until fifteen. He then assisted his father in Grove died in Fawn township in 1889. and the latter's mill for a time, and in 1866 he left

Louis 9 Pfaff

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home for an extended trip through Europe, but in 1869 emigrated to the United States. Land- ing in Baltimore, Md., he went to Washington, D. C., where he remained several months. He then came to Hanover, Pa., where he learned the trade of cigarmaker with Samuel Trone. At the completion of his apprenticeship he worked as a journeyman until 1872, and in the latter year engaged in business for himself. Renting a small farm one and one-half miles south of Hanover, he engaged in farming and cigar manufacturing for six years. He then removed to Hanover and began a cigar manu- facturing business which has grown steadily, reaching large and profitable proportions. Mr. Pfaff erected a building especially for the busi- ness. It contains two rooms, 36x28, and 24×28, and is two stories in height. Here he employs quite a force of men and boys, and has an extensive and well-established trade. His business interests have grown beyond this one industry. He is a stockholder in the Hanover Shoe Factory, besides having various other business interests. In connection with this cigar manufactory business he is a large dealer in leaf tobacco.

In 1872 Mr. Pfaff married Miss Augusta Miller, a native of York county, daughter of Yost and Elizabeth Miller. She died Sept. 23. 1897, the mother of seven children, namely : Harry L .: Rena Louise. deceased; Katie, de- ceased ; Louis W .: Guy, deceased ; Arno Max; and Mary Elizabeth. The family are members of Trinity Reformed Church. In politics Mr. Pfaff is a Republican, and for six years he was a member of the city council. In 1900 he was elected chief burgess of Hanover. He is also prominent in the local fraternal orders, being affiliated with Patmos Lodge, No. 348, F. & A. M .; Gettysburg Chapter, R. A. M .; York Com- mandery, K. T. ; the A. A. O. N. M. S., Read- ing; the Red Men of America; the Mystic Chain ; the Royal Arcanum; and the Elks.

A. M. ASHENFELTER, who resides on his ninety-seven-acre farm in Monaghan town- ship, was born May 19. 1859, on Shelley's Is- land, across from Goldsboro, son of David and Rebecca (Murphy) Ashenfelter.

This branch of the Ashenfelter family in America descend from one of three brothers who came from Germany and settled in Penn- sylvania in the early part of the nineteenth cen- tury. They were millers by trade, and Jacob Ashienfelter, the grandfather of A. M .. followed

that calling all of his life in York county. He owned and operated a mill at Goldsboro, and at one time was considered a very wealthy man. He and his good wife were the parents of the following named children : David, Jacob, San- tel. George Elijah, Daniel and Susan. The family were consistent members of the Church of God. Mr. Ashenfelter was a Republican. His death occurred in 1900, while his wife passed away in 1884.

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 81

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