Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 21

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972

USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II > Part 21

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On Sept. 26, 1732, there landed in the city of Philadelphia from Wurtemberg, Germany, two brothers of the name of Strauss, Albrecht and John Philip. They were mere boys, the elder, Albrecht, swearing in his oath of alle- giance, then necessary to take on landing, that he was but twenty, while John Philip left a

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

record in his family Bible that he was born Sept. 13, 1713. They soon appeared in Berks county, Pa., where in the vicinity of what is now Bernville they each took up large tracts of land, a part of the original acres still being held by members of the present generation. They were both Lutherans, so that their later marriages, the births of their children, and in- dleed the whole Strauss family history, be- came a part of the records of that church.

Albrecht Strauss, the elder of the brothers, took up a tract of 350 acres, upon which he set- tled and reared a large family, eleven children in all, their mother, whom he married in 1734. being Anna Margaret Zerbe, who came with her father, Martin Zerbe, from Schoharie. N. Y., in 1723. The children were as follows : ( 1) Maria Barbara, born Nov. 16, 1735, mar- ried June 2, 1754, John Kloss ( now Klohs). and had ten children, six of whom survived and left issue, the descendants of this line being numerous. (2) John Jacob, born May . 5. 1737, lived on part of the homestead acres north of Bernville. He married Elizabeth Brecht and they became the parents of nine children. Albrecht ( who remained on the homestead ), John, David, Elizabeth, Philip, Jacob, Samuel, Michael and Catharine. Their descendants were also numerous. (3) Maria Elizabeth, twin of John Jacob, married John Daniel Madery, and had three children so far as known. (4) Anna Elizabeth was born March 25, 1739. (5) John Casper, born Aug. 5, 1741. died in infancy. (6) Maria Eva Ro- sina, born Nov. 6, 1742, married Christopher Schaber, and the baptisms of five of their chil- dren are recorded. (7) Maria Catharine, born March 6. 1745. married John Long, and had a son, John Jacob. (8) John Philip, born Jan. 4. 1748, married Sevilla Kepner. daughter of Benedict and Maria Salone Kepner, and had eight children. John, Jacob (who settled in Ohio), Polly, Betsey, Catharine, David, Sus- anna and Sidney. They moved to Cumberland county before the Revolution. (9) Maria Christina was born July 26, 1751. ( 10) Maria Susanna, born Oct. 5, 1753. married Benjamin Kebner. and lived near her brother Philip. (11) John Samuel.

John Samuel Strauss, youngest child of Albrecht, was born May 13, 1756. On Nov. 10, 1784, he married Catharine Elizabeth Um- benhatier, who was born May 10, 1758, daugh- ter of Balthaser and Maria Appalonia Un- benhauer, who owned a large tract of land in- cluding the site of Bernville. He became the owner of the homestead by purchase on Aug. 5. 1784. and there they resided all their lives.

Like his cousin, John Philip, son of Philip, he served actively in the Revolutionary strug- gle, and was an influential and useful citizen of his locality. He died March 25, 1835. his wife having preceded him Dec. 16, 1821. They had a family of thirteen children, viz. : John, the founder of Strausstown; Maria Magda- lena, Mrs. Tobias Henne; John Philip, born Sept. 26. 1781, who died Feb. 12, 1865; Sam- uel ; Johanna, Mrs. Samuel Greim ; John Jacob, born Nov. 23, 1788, who died Nov. 9, 1877; Elizabeth, born Feb. 12, 1790, who died Ang. 19, 1875, Mrs. Elias Redcay; Susanna; Joseph ; John William, born Oct. 26, 1795, who died Oct. 13, 1885 ; Catherine ; Benjamin, born April 30, 1800, who died Dec. 14, 1886; and Jonathan. This family was noted for longevity.

Albrecht Strauss, the emigrant, was a promi- nent man of his locality, and his penmanship denoted that he was an educated man. He was naturalized by the "Supream Court" of the Province on Sept. 24, 1755, the certificate thereof now being in the possession of his descendant, B. Morris Strauss, of Reading, Pa. He died a short time previous to May 7, 1787, that being the date of the filing of his ad- ministration papers. His wife died about the same time.

Jonathan Strauss, or Strouse, grandfather of George C. Strouse, died April 17, 1865, aged sixty-six years and twenty-five days. He moved to Westmoreland county in 1822, and there married Juliann Cease, who died Oct. 10, 1875, at the age of seventy-five years, five months and two days, and by whom he had the fol- lowing family : George ; Martin died in Wins- low township: Christian died in childhood ; Daniel died in the West ; Jacob died in Wins- low township: Noah died in Winslow town- ship; Elizabeth, Mrs. Lewis Ludwig, died in Winslow township. Jonathan Strauss lived on a farm in Westmoreland county, and in ad- dition to agriculture followed his trade of stone and brick mason as well as carpentry, being a most capable workman. In 1839 he came to Jefferson county and was one of the pioneers of Winslow township, purchasing several hun- dred acres of land in that section. all then in the woods. He built a log cabin and began the work of clearing, and here he spent the re- mainder of his life, dying in middle age, when fifty-eight years old. He is buried in the Syphrit graveyard in Winslow township. Mr. Strauss lived like most of the pioneers, fol- lowing lumbering in the dense forests which then covered this region, taking out square

LADMARY

6. H. Darrah

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

timber and rafting on the Sandy Lick from what is known as Strauss' Landing.

George Strouse, son of Jonathan, was born near Youngstown, Westmoreland Co., Pa., and was twelve years old when he accompanied his parents to Jefferson county. He assisted his father in the clearing of the land, and when ready to begin on his own account purchased a tract of 250 acres adjoining the paternal es- tate, where he continued clearing, lumbering and agriculture, engaging in the latter all his life. He died on his farm May 27, 1886, aged fifty-eight years, ten months and ten days. His wife, Margaret Ellen (DuMars), born Dec. 23. 1833, died Oct. 18, 1903. Her mother's maiden name was Harriet Gamble. They had three children: Mary E., who died March 16, 1886, unmarried ; Daniel W., who met an ac- cidental death Feb. 19, 1904: and George C.

George C. Strouse was reared upon his father's farm, but a number of years ago took up engineering, and in 1900, after serving a period as fireman, became stationary engineer at the high school building in Reynoldsville, where he has since been engaged. His trust- worthiness and intelligent attention to his duties have gained him the highest respect of the townspeople. Mr. Strouse is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, belonging to John M. Read Lodge, No. 536, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master, and to I. O. O. F. Lodge No. 824. He married Luella Foust, daughter of the late Dr. J. W. Foust, of Reynoldsville, and they have had two children : Hazel, who graduated from the Reynoldsville high school in 1915 and is now the wife of Don Allen Graft, of Greens- burg, Pa .; and Howard C., a member of the class of 1917 at the Reynoldsville high school.

EDWARD H. DARRAH was born in the State of Vermont, on the 2d of December, 1826, a son of Robert and Lina ( Mitchell) Darrah. His paternal grandfather, John Darrah, was born and reared in Scotland, but as a young man immigrated to America and established his home in Massachusetts, whence he went forth to do yeoman service as a pa- triot soldier in the war of the Revolution.

Robert Darrah, the father of Edward H., became one of the early settlers of Jefferson county. Pa., where he established the family home in Pinecreek township, and engaged in lumbering operations for many years. Ed- ward H. Darrah was two years old when his parents removed to Tioga county, N. Y., where his father was engaged in lumbering for two years. Removal was then made to Carbondale, I.uzerne Co., Pa., and in December, 1837, 7

Robert Darrah came with his family to Jeffer- son county and engaged in lumber operations on Sandy Lick creek, in Pinecreek township. In 1855 he became one of the pioneer lumber- men in Mecosta county, Mich., and there his death occurred Sept. 28, 1865, his wife sur- . viving him a number of years.

Edward H. Darrah may consistently be said to have been a born lumberman, for his experience in connection with the lumbering industry began when he was a mere boy. As a youth of fourteen years he carried mail, on horseback, between Kittanning and Ridgway, Pa., and his trips through the forest wilds were attended by peril and hardship, several un- pleasant experiences having been his in en- countering bears, panthers and wolves while en route, and on one occasion his escape was made by a narrow margin. The gallant youth wore a man's overcoat and a coonskin cap to ward off the cold during his trips in the winter months. In 1848 he was employed as sawyer at Iowa Mills, and in 1850 purchased a third interest in the business. The mills were lo- cated on Sandy Lick creek, a little over five miles up from Brookville. In 1855 he dis- posed of his interest in this business and established his home at Brookville, where he formed a partnership with Joseph E. Hall and engaged in manufacturing square timber prod- ucts. This alliance continued eight years, and for three years thereafter Mr. Darrah con- ducted the enterprise in an individual way. He then became associated with William Dickey and the Moore Brothers in the opera- tion of a sawmill at Millstone, on the Clarion river, the firm controlling three thousand acres of choice timber land. Later, in company with his brother, William R. Darrah, and John Mills, he erected a sawmill near Corsica, Jef- ferson county, with a valuable timber preserve of three hundred acres. This enterprise made a most substantial and prosperous record. Mr. Darrah became interested, also, in sawmills and timber lands on Tionesta creek, in Forest county, this State, one operation being near Guitonville, and the other, a very large one, conducted under the name of Collins, Darrah & Co., at Nebraska. He held place as one of the prominent and influential representatives of the lumber industry in western Pennsyl- vania, and was a man whose sterling character won to him unequivocal popular esteem. He was one of the pioneer and influential mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Brookville, and to the same he, in association with Hon. Frank X. Kreitler, presented the fine bell that still calls the people to worship.

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

He united with the Republican party at the time of its organization, and was a public- spirited citizen as well as a distinctively suc- cessful man of affairs. Mr. Darrah was a resident of Brookville at the time of his death, which occurred April 1, 1890, in the woods of Columbia county, Oregon, while he was examining some timber land, and where, being mistaken for a deer, he was accidentally shot and killed. In 1852 was solemnized his marriage to Hannah J. Clark, a sister of a business associate, the late Charles B. Clark. She was born in Bedford county, Pa., on the 8th day of July, 1826, a daughter of Elijah Clark, and she passed to the life eternal on the 3Ist of August, 1910. Of the children the only one surviving is Mrs. Corbet, wife of Judge Charles Corbet, whose sister Henrietta died when a young girl; the other sister, Amy E., intermarried with Julius A. Brown, died in Los Angeles, Cal., in 1908.

ROBERT HUMPHREYS, late of Brock- wayville, was for many years foremost among the active business men of Jefferson county, prominently associated with mercantile and banking interests. Possessed of vigorous in- tellect, executive ability and a gift for good management, he infused a spirit of energy into the material affairs of every community in which he lived which was influential in promoting its industrial enterprises of all kinds, and which is still felt in his particular section of the county. The large mercantile business at Lane's Mills still carried on by his eldest son was the outgrowth principally of his live methods and ideas put into prac- tice, and continues to be one of the most important trading establishments in the county now as it was in his day. He lived here for about half a century.

Mr. Humphreys was a native of the North of Ireland, born Oct. 12, 1840, in County Cavan, where his father, John Humphreys, lived and died. The latter was a well known school teacher. By his marriage to Mary Woods, of England, he had a family of eight children. The son Robert remained in Ire- land until thirteen years old, and while his father lived had excellent educational advan- tages, attending school and also studying at home under competent instruction. His par- ents having died, he wanted to join his sister, Mrs. Mary A. Mclaughlin, who lived in New York City, and at the age of thirteen accom- panied two young ladies named Abbott who were voyaging to this country. He soon found employment in a store in New York as general

helper, working for his board, and so con- tinued until he went up to Canada, in which country he spent a number of years. For some time he worked on farms in the Prov- ince of Ontario, receiving five dollars a month and board for hard labor, begun at four o'clock in the morning and continued through long days. In 1859 he came to Lane's Mills, Jefferson Co., Pa., spending his first night here with the Groves family, on Grove Sum- mit. He entered the employ of N. B. Lane, in his mill, being paid one dollar a day and boarding himself. Returning to Ontario he again worked there for a time, coming back to Lane's Mills about 1866 and buying an interest in Lane's mills, from that time on devoting himself principally to lumbering for a considerable period. The firm was known as Lane & Humphreys. They cleared up all the available timber in this section, and mean- time also operated a store and farm. When they went out of the lumber business the partnership was dissolved, in 1898. but Mr. Ilumphreys remained in active business to the close of his life, during his later years being principally associated with banking. He was first connected with the First National Bank of Brockwayville as a stockholder, later as vice president of the institution, and from 1913 until his death as president. In financial concerns his judgment proved no less astute than in the development of ordinary trade. He had farm property in Jefferson county. In citizenship also he measured up to the requirements of the best element. He did not care for public honors, and never sought office, his only position of the kind being that of school director of Snyder township, which lie filled for thirty years, taking a deep interest in school standards and the provisions for the training of the young. On political questions he was always a Republican. His death, which occurred July 21, 1915, marked the passing of a notable figure in the upbuilding of mod- ern Brockwayville.

While in Canada Mr. Humphreys was con- firined in the Episcopal Church, but there being no church of that denomination at Brockwayville he attended the Methodist Episcopal Church here.

On Oct. 15, 1868, Mr. Humphreys married Josephine Cavinor, who was born March 21, 1840, near Brookville, Pa., and died July 17, 1893. She was the mother of two children : Fred Arthur, born Sept. 13. 1870, merchant and postmaster at Lane's Mills, where he took the store at the time of his father's death ; and Eugene, born Sept. 16, 1873, who died

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Dec. 30, 1873, On Dec. 17, 1894, Mr. Hum- phreys was married (second) to Charlotte Humphreys, and to this union also were born two children: John Robert, born Jan. 12, 1896, who is now a student at the Kiskiminetas Springs School, Saltsburg, Pa .; and Mary Charlotte, born Nov. 6, 1897, a graduate of Darlington Seminary, West Chester, Penn- sylvania.

BROSIUS FAMILY. This sterling old Pennsylvania family was early represented in Jefferson county, and of its third generation here are Hiram H. and John M. Brosius, both prominent and influential citizens of Brook- ville. They are of the fourth generation in line of direct descent from John G. Brosius, who passed his life at Mahanoy, Northumber- land Co., P'a., and who belonged to a family which was founded in the Keystone State in the Colonial era of our national history, the original American progenitors coming from Holland.

Michael Brosius, son of John G., was born and reared in Northumberland county, whence he came to Jefferson county in 1834. He settled on a pioneer farm in Beaver township, and on this old homestead is now situated the little village and post office of Ohl. He pur- chased two hundred acres of land, the greater portion of which was heavily timbered, and there reclaimed a productive farm from the semi-wilderness, in the meanwhile doing a considerable business in the way of lumber operations. In the early days fur-bearing animals were plentiful in this section of the State, and he was enabled to add materially to his income by his success as a trappèr. He continued to reside on his old homestead until his death, which occurred when he was seventy-five years of age, and his name merits enduring place on the roster of the sterling and honored pioneers of this favored section of Pennsylvania .. The eldest of his children was a daughter, and she and her husband, whose name was Snyder, were residents of Jefferson county, Ohio, at the time of their deaths; Daniel and Michael continued to re- side in Pennsylvania until they died ; Peter, the next in order of birth, was the father of Hiram H. and John M. Brosius, of Brook- ville ; Peter and Jacob becanie prosperous agri- culturists of this county; Judith became the wife of Henry Sowers; Catherine married William Himes; and the youngest child, a daughter, became the wife of Benjamin Sowers.

Peter Brosius was born in Northumberland

county. Pa., in 1821, and thus was about thir- teen years of age at the time of the family removal to Jefferson county, in 1834. Here he was reared to maturity under the condi- tions and influences of what may be termed the middle pioneer era in the history of the county, and thus he soon gained fellowship with arduous work, the while he profited duly from the advantages afforded in the schools of the locality, the same having been of some- what primitive order. As a young man he purchased seventy-five acres of land in Rose township, where lie engaged with characteris- tic vigor in agricultural operations and lum- bering, and developed his land there into a productive farm. After residing in Rose township about fifteen years he acquired a farm of 160 acres in Clover township, where he continued his successful operations as an agriculturist and stock grower, and incident- ally in the lumber business, until the close of his long and useful life. He ordered his life on a high plane of personal integrity, was always true to his stewardship as a citizen, and commanded the unqualified esteem of all who knew him. Intelligent, energetic and progressive, he drew to himself the reward of independence and prosperity, and though he was never ambitious for political office he took a lively interest in local affairs and was influential in his community. He passed to eternal rest in the year 1896, when seventy- five years of age, and his widow survived nearly twenty years, her death having oc- curred in 1915, when her remains were laid to rest beside those of her husband in the little cemetery at Ohl, this county. Her maiden name was Christianna Shoemaker, and she was born at Maytown, Lancaster county, this State, in 1824, a daughter of Frederick Shoemaker. Peter Brosius and his wife were zealous and consistent members of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, and were for many years influential in the work and support of the church of this denomination at Content. Clover township, this rural place of worship being situated on the road between Brookville and Summerville.

Of the children of Peter and Christianna (Shoemaker) Brosius the eldest is Benjamin, who resides at Langville and is one of the representative farmers and lumbermen of that section of Jefferson county ; Christopher is a prosperous agriculturist in Beaver township ; David is a retired farmer and resides near Punxsutawney. this county; Mary A. is the wife of Harrison J. Clyde, of Hallton. Elk county, this State; Samuel R. is one of the

100

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

substantial farmers of Rose township, Jeffer- of the house of representatives expiring in son county ; Hiram H. is mentioned in later paragraphs; Ellen is the wife of Ambrose Eisenman, of Brookville; Eliza Jane is the wife of Joseph F. Jamison, of Clarion, Clarion county ; Lucy Emma is the wife of William E. Lehman, a farmer of Clover township, Jefferson county ; Hurd C. was a resident of Jefferson county, Pa., at the time of his death, in 1898; James B. is a representative farmer near Content, Clover township; John M. is mentioned below.

HIRAM 1I. BROSIUS, who is engaged in the practice of law at Brookville, as one of the leading members of the bar of Jefferson county, and who has recently represented his native county as a member of the lower house of the Pennsylvania Legislature, was born on the old homestead farm in Rose township, this county, Sept. 18, 1851. He was reared to adult age on the farm and also gained early experience in connection with work in the lumber woods of the county. His ambition and alert mentality led him to profit most fully by the advantages afforded in the public schools and the discipline thus gained was effectively supplemented by a course in Belle- view, Corsica and Rimersburg academies, as well as by a higher course in the celebrated Oberlin College, at Oberlin, Ohio. From 1869 to 1878 he was numbered among the success- ful public school teachers of his native county, and he then began reading law in the office and under the preceptorship of Hon. George A. Jenks and E. H. Clark, of Brookville. He pursued his studies with characteristic vigor and receptiveness and was admitted to the bar on the 5th of April, 1880. He then engaged in the individual practice of his pro- fession at Brookville, and it is interesting to record that he has from the beginning occu- pied the same office in which he initiated his professional novitiate. He has long controlled a large .and important law business, in which he has appeared in connection with some of the noteworthy litigation in the courts of this section of the State, and he is known as both a resourceful lawyer and a well fortified counselor. Mr. Brosius has been influential in Jefferson county politics as a stanch advo- cate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and his strong hold upon popular confidence and esteem was shown by his election to the State Legislature, in which he has given most timely and broad-minded service in the furtherance of wise legislation. He was first elected in 1912 and was re- elected in 1914, his second term as a member

December, 1916. He has shown a loyal inter- est in all that concerns the communal welfare, and has served as a member of the Brookville board of education, besides having been for four years a member of the borough council.

In 1880 was solemnized the marriage of Hiram H. Brosius and Mary Graham, daugh- ter of Robert H. and Matilda (Gordon) Graham, the latter a sister of the late Judge Isaac G. Gordon, who served with distinction as chief justice of the Supreme court of Penn- sylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Brosius have one son, Lewis Gordon, who was graduated in 1905 from Princeton University, and was admitted to the bar of Jefferson county in 1910, since which time he has been associated with his father in practice as one of the representative younger members of the bar of this county.

JOHN M. BROSIUS was born on his father's farm in Clover township, this county, Jan. 8, 1864, and he waxed strong in mind and body while assisting in the work of the farm and prosecuting his studies in the district schools. Later he attended Belleview Academy, and in this institution subsequently served as a successful and popular teacher, in which pro- fession he also did effective work at Summer- ville, this county. In 1885 he went to Illinois, and after teaching there in a country school during one winter entered Monmouth College, one of the excellent institutions of that State, from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1888, receiving the degree of bachelor of arts. Afterwards, by post-gradu- ate study at the University of Chicago and at Johns Hopkins University, he received also the degree of master of arts. Thereafter he became principal, successively, of the public schools of Viola and Abingdon, Ill., and San- born, lowa. From the Hawkeye State he went to California, where he served two years as principal of the preparatory department of Napa College. During the ensuing four years he was professor of mathematics at his alma mater, Monmouth College.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 21

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918 Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers Number of Pages: 972

Author: McKnight, W. J. (William James), 1836-1918
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers
Number of Pages: 972