History of the counties of Dauphin and Lebanon : in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania ; biographical and genealogical, Part 115

Author: Egle, William Henry, 1830-1901
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1046

USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > History of the counties of Dauphin and Lebanon : in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania ; biographical and genealogical > Part 115
USA > Pennsylvania > Lebanon County > History of the counties of Dauphin and Lebanon : in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania ; biographical and genealogical > Part 115

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

REV. JACOB BOMBERGER.

Jacob Bomberger, son of John Bomberger and Mary Bauman, was born in 1744 in Warwick town- ship, Lancaster Co., Pa. He received the rudiments of a German education, and was brought up on his father's farm. During the Provincial era he served as an officer in the Second Battalion of the Pennsyl- vania troops under Gens. Forbes and Bouquet. During the Revolution he was some time in service, but turning his attention to religion he began to study such theological works as were within his reach. After the peace of 1783 he went into the Western country, and for many years missionated among the Indians in the Northwest. During the war of 1812- 14, well advanced in life. he returned to Pennsylva- nia and remained with his friends. He died near Harrisburg, on the 4th of August, 1-29, at the age of eighty-five, and was buried in Sherer's burying- ground. The labor, of Mr. Bomberger for many years were of that self-sacrificing spirit and devoted- ne-s which proved that others there were beside the zealous Je-nit and the faithful Moravian, whose re- ligions fervor and Christ-like example stand out as shining light- in the galaxy of the followers of the doctrines and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY.

JOHN F. BOWMAN.

John F. Bowman was born in Lancaster County, Pa., May 10, 1771. His father was a farmer, residing on Pequa Creek, not far from Strasburg. John F. was brought up as a millwright, but subsequently entered mercantile pursuits. In 1809 he removed to Halifax, where he was a merchant from that period to I830, when, believing a larger sphere of trade was opened for him, he went to Millersburg. where he successfully continued in business until his death, which occurred on the 6th of November, 1835. Mr. Bowman first married, in 1794, a daughter of Isaac Ferree, whose farm adjoined that of his father. By this marriage they had the following children : Eliza, Maria, George, and Josiah ( married Elizabeth Rutter). Mr. Bowman married, secondly, in 1805, Frances Crossen, daughter of John Crossen. They had issue as follows: John J. (married Margaret Sallade), Levi, Louisa, Isaac, Mary E. (married Rev. C. W. Jackson), Lucinda (married Dr. Hiram Rutherford). Jacob, Emeline, and Benjamin. His second wife, Frances Crossen, born Aug. 13, 1786; died Sept. 30, 1846, and lies interred beside her husband in the old Methodist graveyard at Millersburg.

John F. Bowman wa, one of the representative men of the "Upper End," enjoyed a reputation for up- rightness and honesty, and highly esteemed by those who knew him. Genial, yet quiet and unobtrusive, he never sought or would accept any local or public office.

CAPT. ADAM BOYD.

Adam Boyd, the son of John Boyd and Elizabeth Young, was a native of Northampton County, Pa., born in 1746. His ancestors were of that sturdy and fearless race who, after winning religion- liberty at home, braved the perils of the ocean and a life in the wilds of America, that they might establish civil and religious freedom in the New World. " In the tenth of Queen Anne," John Boyd and a younger brother, Rev. Adam Boyd, sons of Rev. Adam Boyd, Sr., left Scotland and landed at Philadelphia. John married there the year following. Jane Craig, daughter of Thomas Craig, and subsequently became (1728) one of the first immigrants to the " Irish Settlement," now Northampton County. His son, John, born in Phila. delphia in 1716, married. in 1744, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Young, "an Ulster baronet." Their eldest son was Adam Boyd, the subject of this sketch.

buck" and "Liverpool" in May, 1776. Growing tired of that branch of the service. Lieut. Boyd re- quested to be discharged, that he might volunteer in the land forces. Being honorably dismissed the navy, he at once entered the army proper, holding the same rank therein. Ile was at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, with two of his brothers, one of whom was killed in the latter engagement. Sub-e- quently, Lieut. Boyd acted as " master of wagon-," and as such remained with the army until after the surrender at Yorktown.

Returning to the home of his mother, near New- ville, he married and came to Ilarrisburg. While passing through Harris' Ferry, in the spring of 1752, Mr. Boyd was struck with the immense advantages offered by the location of the proposed town, and subsequently purchased of the proprietor a lot on the corner of Second and Mulberry Streets. In 1784 he became a permanent resident. The dwelling-house erected by him in 1792 on lots 210 and 212 of the original plan of the borough, on Second below Mul- berry, is yet in the ownership of his descendants.

Upon the incorporation of the borough of Harris- burg, in 1791, he was chosen a burgess, Dr. John Luther being the other. In 1792 he was elected treasurer of the county, and held the office until 1806, when be declined a re-election. In 1809, Mr. Boyd was elected a director of the poor, and during his term of office the county poor-house and mill were erected.

Mr. Boyd died on the 14th of May, 1814; was in- terred in the Presbyterian graveyard, but subse- quently his remains were removed to the Harrisburg cemetery.

In private trusts Mr. Boyd was very frequently em- ployed. His correspondence and account- show pre- cision and method, particularly the case with which he managed the estate of the younger William Maclay. In person he was five feet eight inches in height, a stout, healthy, florid man, dark brown hair and eyes. At fifty-two years of age he had no gray hairs. He is rated on the " Mill Purchase" at £23 2s., being the fourth highest assessment upon that curious record.

Mr. Boyd married, in 1784, Jeannette Macfarlane, of Big Spring, Cumberland County, daughter of Pat- rick aud granddaughter of James Macfarlane, who came from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1717. )Irs. Boyd died in carly life at Harrisburg, leaving one child, a daughter Rosanna, who married Hugh Ham- ilton in 1807. This estimable lady lived until 1872, when she died, the oldest inhabitant of Harrisburg, having been born here in 1786.

He learned the trade of a carpenter, and was fol- lowing that avocation when the war of the Revolu- tion called to arms. Ile was an early associator, and when the State of Pennsylvania had formed its little navy for the protection of the ports on the Delaware, GEORGE BOYER. Lient. Boyd received a commission therein. During George Boyer, son of George Boyer ( 1760-1814) and Anna Maria . 1760-1-81), was born Sept. 16. 1781, near Shaefferstown, Lebanon Co .. Pa. He received a limited e lueation, learned the trade of a tanner, and the year 1776, and the early part of 1777, he was most of the time in command of the armed sioop " Burke," and rendered efficient -ervice in the conflict between the Pennsylvania navy and the British ships " Roe- , for a number of years carried on that enterprise at

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

Harrisburg, where his father was "an early inhabi- phin and Lebanon, which was in active service in tant." For a long time he kept the " Golden Lamb," a favorite hostelry in its day at the corner of Second and Locust Streets, which his father had established as early as 1792. Mr. Boyer was quite prominent in political atfairs, served frequently in the old Borough Council, and was elected anditor of the county in 1827, serving three years. He was an energetic citi- zen, and popular. He died at Harrisburg Feb. 9. 1839, in his fifty-eighth year. Mr. Boyer was twice married, his first wife, Mary, born Oct. 6. 1786; died Dec. 10. 1808 ; his second wife, Mary, born Oct. 12. 1732 ; died Aug. 2, 1858.

JOHN H. BRIGGS.

Joho Hanna Briggs, son of Joseph Briggs and Caroline E. Hanna, was born in 1815, at Silver Spring, Cumberland Co., Pa. His ancestors were of English descent, and early settlers in Penn-ylvania. He received a classical education. and was a graduate of Rutgers College, New Jersey. Returning to Har- risburg, where his parents had made their home, he began the study of law with James McCormick. then one of the leading lawyers at the capital, and was admitted to the Dauphin County bar April IS, 1837. MERCER BROWN. M.D. and at once entered upou a successful practice of his profession. Mr. Briggs took a prominent interest in municipal affairs, was nine years a member of Bor- ough Couneil, of which body he wa- eight years pre -- ident. He was a director of the old Harrisburg Bank, of the Harrisburg Bridge Company, and pres- ident of the First National Bank of Harrisburg at the time of his death, which took place March 29, 1872, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. "He had gained," says Rev. Dr. Robinson, "the reputation of a wise aud able counselor, and an untarnished name. He was a most upright eitizen, useful, patriotic, and publie-spirited. He wa- a true friend. generous and forbearing. His social qualities and gentlemanly ! and State politics. He was a candidate for Congress bearing surrounding him with friends." Mr. Briggs married Juliann Tod, daughter of Judge John Tod and Mary R. Hanna,

CAPT, JOHN BRISBAN.

John Brisban, a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, was born Dee. 25, 1730. With an elder brother he came to America at the outset of the French and Indian war. He was a soldier in that sanguinary struggle for French supremacy in America, and held a lieutenant's commission in the English army. He was a part of the time in Canada, and was with Gen. Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham. For those services he received a grant from George HI. of two thousand seres of land in Virginia. He -ubsequently settled in Lancaster County. He early espon-ed the cause of the Colonies, and receiving a commission as captain in the Second . Col. St. Clair's, Pennsylvania Battalion, Jan. 5, 1776, raised a company mo-tly in the upper part of then Lancaster County, now Dau-

Canada. At the close of that arduous campaign he was transferred to the Third Regiment of the Penn- sylvania Line, resigning in July, 1777. He subse- quently returned to the service, and remained alino-t to the elose of the Revolution, when he returned to his farm near "Bird-in-Hand," Lancaster County, and was appointed collector of military fines. He was, however, too kind-hearted to oppress the delin- quent-, con-equently he became responsible to the government for the amount, which resulted in Capt. Brishan becoming poor and peuniless. All the papers pertaining to his military services were sent to Wash- ington for the purpose of securing a pension, but un- fortunately lost. Capt. Bri-ban wa- twice married, and left issue by both. He died ac the residence of his son-in-law, Samuel Rutherford. near Harris- burg, Pa., March 13, 1822, aged ninety-one year -. He lies buried in Paxtang Church graveyard. Capt. Brisban was an ardent patriot, and a gentleman of generous impulses. He lived an eventful life, and died at a ripe ohl age, honored and re-pected by his fellow-eitizens.

Mercer Brown was born near Westchester, Chester Co., Pa .. April 22, 1795. After receiving a thorough academic education, he began the study of medicine under Dr. King, of Columbia. He graduated in Isto, and located at MeCall's Ferry, at which point many persons at that time were being employed in the erection of the bridge over the Susquehanna, nninbers of whom had been attacked by severe sickne -.. He subsequently removed to Wrightsville, where he re- mained several years, when he located in Middletown. and, until hi- death, which took place Feb. 19, 1871, he was regarded as the head of the medical profe-sion there. Dr. Brown was long a prominent actor in local at one time, but, his party being in the minority in the district, he was defeated. As a citizen he wa- highly respected and beloved. Dr. Brown married Rebecca Wolfly, daughter of Jacob Woltly, an early settler at Middletown. She died April 2, 1861.

PETER DRUA.

Peter Brua, the son of John Peter Brua, was a na- tive of Berks County, Pa., where he was born in 1771. He learned the trade of a carpenter, and came to Harrisburg about 1792. He served as director of the poor from 1318 to 1821; was a member of the Borough Council in 1824, 1826, and 1829 ; commis- -ioned county treasurer Jan. 7, 1824, and was one of the county commissioners from 1827 to 1529. While in the latter office he was a prime mover in establish- ing the Lanea-terian system of education, which pre- ceded that of the common schools. Mr. Brua was a gentleman of sound practical sense, honest and up- right, and highly honored in the community. He

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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY.

died at Harrisburg on the Ist of January. 1842, in his seventy.first year. He married Catharine Rupley, of Cumberland County, Pa., who died on the 19th of January, 1833, aged sixty years. They had six chil- dren, -Margaret, married Hon. Simon Cameron ; Lu- cetta, married Jacob Hoyer ; Mary, married Isaac MeCord; Catharine, married Andrew Keefer ; Jacob, who went a- private in the Cameron Guards to Mexico. and died at Tampico, a few hours after receiving his commission as a lieutenant in the United States army ; and John Peter, who was a paymaster during the late civil war and now on the retired list of the United States army.

JOHN JACOB BUCHER.

John Jacob Bucher, horn Jan. 1, 1764, was the eldest child of Rev. John Conrad Bucher, an officer of the Provincial service, and stationed at Carlisle. The father had been successively promoted from ensign to lieutenant, adjutant, and captain ; but finally exchanging the military for the ecclesiastical. he became chaplain. In 1768 the father resigned and moved to Lebanon, Pa , where he accepted the pastor- ship of the German Reformed congregation. Here, at the age of fourteen, Jacob Bucher began to learn the trade of a hatter with Michael Krebb-, father of the distinguished Rev. John M. Krebb-, lately of New York City. Whatever of education Jacob obtained must have been derived from his accomplished father, and by self-tuition, as evidenced by his " copy-book," still preserved and now ninety-six year- old !

After his freedom from apprenticeship he visited some maternal uncle- "out West." Starting on hi- trip rie Harrisburg, in 1785, John Harri- wanted him. as a hat-maker, to locate in his "town," which was as yet no town. Jacob, not being able to see it, went his way, and during hi- sojourn attended an Indian

council on the spot where Cincinnati stands to-day. Having the ague during three out of four years on the lower Ohio, he returned to Lebanon in 1789. But his paternal relatives at Shaffhan-en. Switzer- land, induced him to visit them, and off he went by packet from Philadelphia to Amsterdam. He was absent about a year, and returning, located at Har- risburg.

In March, 1792. Jacob married Susannah Horter, a maiden -caree eighteen, and he built the house No. 103 South Front Street as a home. His hatter-hop stood at No. 3, near Market Street. About 1804 he moved to the corner building, which the Bucher family still occupies. after three-fourth of a century, a longer time perhaps than any other continuous residence in the town. Jacob Bucher had two sons, the late Judge John Courad, of Harrisburg, and Hon. George H., now residing at Mechanicsburg. His daughters married, respectively, William Ayres, Es1,, of Har- ri-burg : Robert Allen, E -. , of Philadelphia ; Hon. Joseph Lawrence, of Washington Co., Pa .; and Robert Bryson, E-1., now of Harrisburg.

The public life of Jacob Bucher began with his election as coroner in 1796; appointed by Governor MitHlin a justice of the peace in 1798; elected to the House of Representatives in 1803, and re-elected for the sessions of 1805-6 and 1307-8. In 1810 he was appointed chairman of the commission to erect the State buildings, preparatory to removal of the capital from Lancaster to Harrisburg. Edward Crouch, of Dauphin County, and John Dorsey, of Philadelphia. were his coadjutors, but he being the resident com- missioner, the bulk of superintendence naturally de- volved upon him.

In 1812 he was nominated by the Democratic party for Congress, but the Federalists carried the district. He was sent again to the Legislature in 1814 and the session following.

In 1818, Governor Findlay appointed him an asso- ciate judge for Dauphin County, which position he hell nine years, until his death, Oet. 16, 1827, aged nearly sixty-four. It is a coincidence worth noting that his son, John Conrad, occupied the same office also for twelve years prior to his death, Oet. 21, 1852.

The trusts which Jacob Bucher filled of a more private character were those which designate him as a man enjoying the confidence of his fellow-citizen-, and in the church a member above reproach. From hi- judicious management of the State buildings, or some other reason, he became the common treasurer or financier of the town.

IION. JOHN C. BUCHER.

John Conrad Bucher, the son of Jacob Bacher and Susannah Horter, was born at Harrisburg, Pa., Dec. 28, 1792. Ile bore the ancestral name of his father's family. He received such an education as the schools of the town afforded, and entered practical life in 1818, as a clerk in the old " Land Department" of Pennsylvania, under Gen. Andrew Porter and Rich- ard T. Leech. In 1830 he was elected to the Twenty- second Congre -- from the district comprising Dau- phin and Lebanon. In 1839 he was appointed by Governor Porter an associate judge of the county of Dauphin, which position he held for twelve years. He frequently served as a member of the Borough Council, and was a school director from the adoption of the common-school system until the day of hi- death. Few men have taken warmer and deeper in- terest in educational matters. He was also a trustee of the Harrisburg Academy, of (then) Franklin Col- lege at Lancaster, and of Marshall College at Mer- cer-burg, and of the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church. In the German Reformed Church among the "father " of which his grandfather, the Rev. John Conrad Bucher, of Lebanon, was a distin- guished minister, he was regarded as a devout and eon -pienous man. He was well known in its ecclesi- astical councils, having been frequently a member of Classis and Synod, where he took the lead among the laymen in debate, and was treasurer of the Board of

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

Domestic Missions, and of the Theological Seminary. For a long period he was an active member of the executive committee of the Harrisburg Bible Society, . and president of the association at the time of his death. In private life he was amiable, "given to hospitality," and eminently just. His death was very sudden, having been found dead in bed on Sabbath morning, October 26, 1>51, and occurred in his fifty- ninth year. just after returning from a church-meet -. ing at Lancaster. Judge Bacher married, Jan. 17, 1820, Eleanor, daughter of Jacob I-ett. of Huntingdon County, Pa., who survived her husband thirty years, dying at Harrisburg, March 6, IAS1. at the age of eighty-three. They bad John C., Su-an married Alexander Ray. of Washington City ), Eleanor, and Eliza (married Richard H. Hummel). Mrs. Ray and Mrs. Hummel, both widows, alone survive.

GEORGE BUEHLER.

George Buehler, the son of Henry Buehler, a sol- dier of the Revolution, and Jane Trotter. was born near the town of Lebanon, Pa., in July, 1776. His parents were Moravians; they lie buried in Mount Hebron burying-ground, and were lifelong members of old Hebron Church. George received a good Eng- lish and German education at the celebrated Mora- vian school at Litiz, and was subsequently brought up to mercantile pursuits. He was commissioned by Governor Mithlin ju-tice of the peace for Lebanon township Dec. 3, 1799. The year following. under the auspices of the Harrisburg and Presque Isle Land Company, he removed to Erie, and was appointed in Angust, 1801. by President Jefferson, collector of the Eighteenth Collection District of Pennsylvania. Mr. Buehler took a prominent part in the affair, con- nected with the carly organization of Erie County. At his residence, on the 20 of April, 1803. that county was organized for judicial purposes. He wasa mem- ber of the first Council of the town of Erie in 1806. and in 1808 and 1809 was borough hurge-s. He was one of the first to aid in developing the Lake Erie trade, fore-eeing at that early day the advantages of that magnificent port on the lakes. In 1811-12 he was a member of the Erie Light Infantry, Capt. For -- ter, which was in active service during a portion of that period. In 1813. owing probably to the war troubles on the frontiers, he came to Harrisburg and took charge of the "Golden Eagle." He died at Harrisburg on the 5th of August, 1816, aged forty year -. Mr. Boehler married previous to removing to Erie, Maria, daughter of Peter Nagle, of Reading. She was born Dec. 25, 1779, and died at Harri -- borg July 27, 1843; a lady of great amiability of char- acter. Mr. Buehler was a man of sterling integrity. and his brief life was one of activity, enterprise, and industry, At Erie he stood high in the esteem of its citizens, and at Harrisburg his appreciation was none the less.

WILLIAM BUEHLER.

William Buehler, son of George Buehler and Maria Nagle, was born in 1808, at Erie, Pa. His father removed from Erie to Harrisburg in 1813, and died at the latter place in 1816. When a young man, the son went to Chamber-burg, where he learned the mer- cantile trade. He subsequently removed to Philadel- phia, where he was engaged as a merchant in the hardware business. He returned to Harrisburg about Dreember, 1548, and took charge of the Buchler Hou-e. which had been conducted by the family since 1819. Here he remained several years, when he embarked in the insurance business, then comparatively in its in- fancy, and became State agent for the insurance com- pany of North America. The result was the establish- ment of one of the largest insurance departments in the State, successfully and reliably carried on until his death. It was not alone in the business walks of life that Mr. Buehler was widely known and esteemed. For many years he was a prominent and active mem- ber of the Protestant Episcopal Church ; was warden of St. Stephen's Church, and the superintendent of its Sunday-school for a long period. He represented his church in the different dioceses to which he be- longed, and took an earnest part in all questions that arose therein relating to the extension and prosperity of the church. From the organization of the diocese of Central Pennsylvania until his decease, he had been the treasurer thereof, a most responsible po-i- tion, and by his good judgment, liberality, and kind- ness, did much to advance the financial interests of the new diece-e. He was identified with the succe --- ful establishment of the Home for the Friendle -- , and was a member and officer of the Harrisburg Be- nevolent Society, which has done so much to relieve the poor and needy of the eity. In every organized effort for publie charity he took an active part, con- tributing and counseling, and working with his own hands to promote good works in others. But his individual charities were the most characteristic of the man, for it was by these that " he established for himself a brotherhood with men which made his name blessed among them." He died suddenly at Harris- burg on Sunday morning, June 12, 1581, aged >eventy- three years. Mr. Buehler married May 17, 1831, at Chambersburg, Pa., Henrietta R. Snyder, who sur- vive -. Their children were Anna imarried Robert .1. Lamberton, LL.D., president of Lehigh University!, Elizabeth (married, first, Charle, Hammond, sveund, H. Stanly Goodwin, Catharine i married Capt. George Ramsey, United States Army), Dr. Henry B., Wil- liam, and Edward.

COL. JAMES BURD.

James Burd. a Scot, was born at Ormiston, near Edinburgh, in 1726, son of Edward. Ile came to Philadelphia in 1747, married, 1748, Sarah, daughter of Edward Shippen, born 1730 Both died at Tinian, near Middletown. in Dauphin County, Pa. Col. Burd

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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY.

in 1793, Mrs. Burd in 1784), and are buried in the graveyard at Middletown. Col. Burd resided from 1750 to 1753 at Shippensburg, as manager of the affairs of Mr. Shippen. About 1755 he came to Tinian, where he resided until his death. H- en- tered the Provincial service (1755) as a commis-ioner with George Croghan, William Buchanan, and Adam Hoopes to lay out a road from "flarris' Ferry to the Ohio." He was then a captain; he is soon heard of as major. then lieutenant-colonel, and colonel in 1760. As there were but two regiments in service, hi- rank was a very prominent one. He fulfilled with great uprightness and punctuality all the public duties with which he was intrusted for quite twenty year -. Then the stirring days of the Revolution came, and with it disaster to Burd as a public man, He seems to have entered heartily into the contest, but just when such experience as he had acquired would have been of the highest benefit, an unfortunate dispute about rank oceurred; that, with insubordination in his command, and some criticism in the "Committee of Safety," caused him to resign his civil and military employments. His sons and son-in-law were good patriots, and a pretty thorough examination of the hasty conduet of Burd convinces us that he was, not- withstanding this affair, in accord with the leading' patriots with whom he was surrounded. He was a man of fine form, hardy and healthy, an advanced and prosperous farmer, hospitable in his intercour-e with his neighbors, and respected for his integrity as a civil officer from 1785, when Dauphin County was formed, until his death, in 1793. He died holding position as one of the conuty judges.

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History of the counties of Dauphin and Lebanon : in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania ; biographical and genealogical, Part 115

Author: Egle, William Henry, 1830-1901 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1046

Author: Egle, William Henry, 1830-1901
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1046