Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 71

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 71

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).

phia, and for two months in New York City, similarly occupied, after four years of private study in this line. He returned to Reynolds- ville and was engaged in special work for a time until 1911, when he organized the Punx- sutawney Sanitarium, of which he has since been president. His associates are Fred K. Herpel, secretary and treasurer, and a board of directors, including besides himself : Henry Herpel, Fred K. Herpel, N. K. Murray, Har- riet Herpel, Dr. N. C. Mills and L. N. Miller. The Sanitarium was opened for work Oct. 25, 19II, and has grown rapidly in influence because of the service it has been rendering to this section as well as among all its patients, who have come from a continually increasing field among the States of the Union. Orig- inally the work was confined to treatment of diseases of the stomach, but seeing the de- mand for a department of gynecology and surgery, one was established at the institution. Dr. Murray has evidenced his special fitness from the beginning as head of the undertak- ing, whose success is mainly the outcome of his executive talents as well as medical skill. For several years he was connected with the Adrian Hospital at Punxsutawney, and in that association acquired experience of hospi- tal requirements and methods which has been invaluable in his present venture. By limiting his work to the one field he has been enabled to concentrate most effectively on his chosen specialty, with the result that he has accom- plished gratifying results in a growing and successful institution. He is generally re- garded among leading physicians as accurate in diagnosis, doubling the value of the treat- ment and encouraging patients by prompt re- lief and permanent benefit. The Sanitarium is very favorably known in the community, where its purposes and achievements are highly appreciated. It occupies a fine build- ing of buff brick at East Mahoning and Dins- more streets, adequately equipped and admir- ably kept up-an attractive property well de- signed for its special uses. Plans are now under way for an addition of thirty rooms.

Dr. Murray has received honorable recog- nition among his fellow physicians in the county, having been elected president of the Jefferson County Medical Society for 1912, and he is an esteemed member of the Penn- sylvania State Medical Society and the Amer- ican Medical Association. He is a Mason in fraternal connection, belonging to John M. Read Lodge, No. 536, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master : to Jefferson Chapter, No.

347

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

225, R. A. M .; Bethany Commandery, No. 83. K. T., of DuBois, of which he is a past eminent commander; to Williamsport Con- sistory, thirty-second degree; and to Jaffa Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Altoona. Local activities have always held his interest and received his support. He is a member of the Country Club and of the Baptist Church, and is serving as president of the board of trustees of the latter ; also as a director in the Y. M. C. A. at Punxsutawney ; and while at Rey- noldsville was president of the school board. He was also one of the organizers of the Reynoldsville Brick & Tile Company, whose works are one of the most important indus- trial establishments of the place.

Dr. Murray married Mildred Fuller, daugh- ter of G. W. Fuller, and she died Jan. 28, 1897, eighteen months afterwards. In 1905 he wedded Nora Kunes, of Emporia, Va., a capable, accomplished lady, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Kunes, and by this union has three children, Russell H., Nora Virginia and Louise.

In any catalogue of leading citizens of Jefferson county, Dr. Murray's name must necessarily come near the top of the list. Ile is generous to a fault. Always wise in counsel and deeply interested in and sought after in every enterprise that makes for the betterment of the community of which he is a member, he is identified with the best in the political and social life of his county and city, and is ably seconded by Mrs. Murray. To illustrate one of these side phases of the character of Dr. Murray: Dr. Murray had Dr. Russell H. Conwell, the noted lecturer of Philadelphia, come to Punxsutawney, and packed the Jefferson Theatre to the doors, simply that the city might have the inspira- tion to higher service and life which would come from the words of the great lecturer. The newspaper in speaking of this reminded its readers of the fact that when Dr. Conwell had lectured in Reynoldsville some years be- fore, through his lecture there had sprung up one of Reynoldsville's chief industries, and that Dr. Murray himself at that time had been of the far-sighted men who had caught the vision in Dr. Conwell's lecture and had helped to organize that industry. A leading physi- cian of Clearfield county stated to the writer recently that in his judgment Dr. Murray was one of the best diagnosticians he had ever known, and that the Punxsutawney Sani- tarium was the leading Sanitarium of the State.

It is a great thing to be successful, but as

one has suggested, it is a better thing to have deserved success. Dr. John H. Murray with- out question comes under this heading .- Con- tributed by REV. PERCY E. BURTT.

LEVI CLOVER SMITH, an old-time resi- dent of Brookville, now living retired, was long in the- service of the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company. He is one of Jefferson county's Civil war veterans, and in private life and business associations, as in the days when he was serving his country in the army, he has endeavored to be faithful to all his obligations and to live true to upright princi- ples. Mr. Smith belongs to a family which has been honored in Brookville from the early days of that borough, being a son of Daniel and Matilda (Clark) Smith, who had three children : Levi Clover; Mary Etta, now de- ceased, who married Captain Lyons, of Sligo Furnace, Clarion Co., Pa., and survived him ; and William C., of Brookville, also deceased. Daniel Smith, the father, was one of the lead- ing men of his day in and around Brookville. He was engaged in business as an extensive lumberman and dealer in general merchan- dise, and was the foremost operator at Brook- ville until he lost his sawmill by fire, with al- most seven million feet of lumber. He was noted for his kindness and benevolence, and was particularly generous to the poor. He took an active interest in public affairs, and was one of the five men who founded the Re- publican party in Jefferson county. He died in the year 1885, at the age of sixty-seven, and Mrs. Smith survived him several years, her death occurring in 1893.

Levi Clover Smith was born July 16, 1840, in Brookville, and had excellent training, being allowed good educational advantages. During his early manhood he served a year in the Union army while the country was engaged in the Civil war, having enlisted Sept. 2, 1862, in Company E (Captain Stewart), 148th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. This regi- ment was attached to the Army of the Poto- mac, and Mr. Smith took part in every one of the important actions in which it was engaged during his term, including Chancellors- ville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylva- nia, Petersburg and others. He received an honorable discharge in September, 1863, with a record as a soldier of which he may well be proud. He has been no less conscien- tious in the other relations of life. Several years afterwards he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and by strict attention to all his duties became fa-

348

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

vorably known. Ile remained with the com- pany for the long period of thirty-six years, retiring a few years ago, with an industrial record very much to his credit. Like his fa- ther, Mr. Smith is a Republican in political sentiment. He belongs to the Methodist Church, and is respected for his character and worth wherever known.

On Oct. 19, 1864, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Sarah Louise Campbell. one of the five daughters of William Campbell, of Punxsutawney, a merchant and lumberman. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, viz. : Myrtle M. M. died in child- hood; Otto has long been in the employ of the Standard Oil Company, having been stationed for fifteen years at Oil City, Pa., and now rep- presenting their interests in Canada, where he has been for ten years; Etta died in in- fancy ; Theona is Mrs. Ben Craig at Brook- ville: Anna married Dr. D. A. Munson, and they reside in Philadelphia ; Fred, who is en- gaged in the Deemer furniture factory at Brookville, married Sarah E. Reitz, and they have one son, Eugene B .; Wade Hampton, who is also with the Standard Oil Company in Canada. married Edna Hartman, of Wil- liamsport, Pa., and they have three daugh- ters.

DR. JEFFERSON T. BENNETT, who practiced in Brookville from 1850, was at the time of his death the oldest physician in Jefferson county. Born May 1. 1822, in Liv- ingston county, N. Y .. he was brought to Smethport, Pa., the following year, and in 1825 to Bradford, this State. His father, who was also a doctor, became the owner of the greater portion of the land upon which Bradford now stands. In 1836 the family removed to Pitts- burgh, and one year later to Freeport. In 1838 they settled in Redbank township, Cla- rion county. and thence moved to near Brockwayville. Their last move was to Brookville, in 1850, the year of the dysentery epidemic. Jefferson T. Bennett had now grown to manhood, and he assisted his father in fighting the dreadful scourge. Up to then he had received no training in the sci- ence of medicine except in the collecting and compounding of herbs and roots for medicinal purposes, as taught him by his father; and his literary education was limited to that which he had obtained in the backwoods schoolhouse. Yet his career was both re- markable and wonderful, his practice extend- ing all over and even beyond the confines of the county. No night was so dark or so

stormy as to deter this intrepid man from per- forming what he felt to be his duty. To the sick man, woman or child of the poorer classes his ministrations were given in the same kind- hearted spirit as to those of means and influ- ence. Once. on a professional journey through what was then an almost unbroken forest to Galushia's, on the Little Toby, reaching the river at two o'clock in the morning and find- ing no other means to cross the stream. he rode his horse over the bracket log of the dam to the opposite side, where he found the afflicted family to whom he had been directed. He treated the very poor as though he were himself in affluence and they his children, and accepted from another class barter of any de- scription as payment for his services. Skins of wild animals from hunters and trappers, and agricultural products from the farmer, constituted the greater portion of his revenue. He traveled many miles over the country in the fifty years of his active practice. His readiness to help those in financial straits often made him the victim of unscrupulous persons. His kindliness and unique personality made him known to practically all the residents of this section.

Dr. Bennett was twice married, the first time to Elizabeth Richards, by whom he had four children, three of whom survived him: O. J. Bennett, of Denver, Colo .; Mrs. John L. Brady and S. C. Bennett, both of Port Bar- nett. His second union was to Mrs. James Moore. by whom he had seven children, five of whom survived him : Edith L .. of Lakewood, N. T .; Mrs. Wesley Herr. of Lockhaven ; W. A. Bennett, of DuBois; and Mrs. C. G. Starr and Miss Lottie, both of Brookville.

Dr. Bennett died Nov. 15, 1905, at his home in East Brookville, and the funeral services were conducted by the Rev. J. A. McCamey, of the Methodist Church, of which he was a member. Interment was in the Temple grave- yard, in Warsaw township.

MANOAH GUMBERT, who owns and re- sides upon the old homestead in Beaver town- ship, which was the place of his birth, is a descendant of a pioneer family which has con- tributed much to the civic and industrial de- velopment and progress of Jefferson county. In his day and generation Manoah Gumbert has accomplished strong deeds and worthy achievement in connection with productive in- dustry. being known as one of the representa- tive farmers of his locality. He has attained also to marked precedence as an apiarist. his success in bee culture having been unqualified.

349

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

His well improved farm is pleasingly situated in Beaver township, only an eighth of a mile south of Ohl, where he was born Oct. 12. 1850. He is a son of George and Mary (Pence) Gumbert, both members of sterling pioneer families. The lineage of the Gum- bert family is traced back to stanch German origin.

George Gumbert was born in Armstrong county, Pa., April 16, 1818, and on the 10th of November, 1844, he became a resident of Jefferson county, his father and stepmother. Mr. and Mrs. William Gumbert, having pre- viously come to this county and having es- tablished their home on the farm now owned by Clover Baughman. At that time it was little more than a forest wilderness. In 1855 William Gumbert and his wife went to Wis- consin and became pioneer settlers near Alma. Buffalo county, and there the death of Mrs. Gumbert occurred a few years later. All of the children of the second marriage established permanent homes in Wisconsin. William Gumbert finally returned to Jefferson county. where he passed his declining years with his children and grandchildren, his death occur- ring at the home of Manoah Gumbert. on the 3Ist of October, 1879, at which time he was eighty years of age. Of the children of his first marriage George. father of Monoah, was the eldest son; Adam, who passed the closing years of his life on the farm now owned and occupied by his son David, is men- tioned elsewhere : William is more specifically mentioned on other pages, in the sketch of Jeremiah : David became a prosperous farmer near New Bethlehem, in Armstrong county. and there his death occurred; Elizabeth be- came the wife of David Butler, of Armstrong. and in 1860 they removed to Tennessee, where they passed the rest of their lives; Sarah and her husband. George Doverspike, passed the closing years of their lives on their farm near Putneyville, Armstrong county.

On the 12th of March, 1844. at the age of twenty-six years. George Gumbert wedded Mary Pence, who was born near Freeport, Armstrong county. Aug. 15, 1822, and was nine years of age at the time of the family removal to Clarion county, where her father, Henry Pence, became a pioneer farmer. Al- most immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Gumbert established their home on the farm now owned by their son Manoah, their original domicile having been a little log house of the true pioneer type. George Gumbert reclaimed all of his land to cultiva- tion, and in 1853 erected a substantial frame

house, to which he made additions in 1874. The barn which he built in 1858 was de- stroyed by fire twenty-two years later, and immediately replaced by the present barn on the place, in 1880. Ilere George Gumbert continued his earnest and successful activities during the remainder of his active career, and here his death occurred on the roth of April, 1901. only six days prior to his eighty-third birthday anniversary. His devoted wife died on the 3Ist of December, 1898. Both were earnest members of the Evangelical Associa- tion and leaders in the maintenance of the church of that denomination in Beaver town- ship. In the early days the church services were held in the Gumbert home and other private houses, and in 1884 a church edifice was erected at Ileathville, both Mr. and Mrs. Gumbert continuing as members of this con- gregation until they died. He gave efficient service as classleader for many years. In the fifties Mr. Gumbert served as justice of the peace, and at the time of the Civil war he held the position of postmaster of the Packer postoffice, the office being maintained in his house. Packer is now known as Heathville. The remains of Mr. Gumbert and his wife rest in Pleasant Grove cemetery, which occti- pies a small part of their old homestead. They became the parents of six children, of whom Manoah, the fourth, was the only one to at- tain maturity. all of the others having died either in infancy or early childhood. The others were Samantha, Elizabeth, John, George and Isaiah.

Educated in the local schools, Manoah Gum- bert has always resided on the old homestead farm, and, as the only heir, upon the death of his venerable father, he came into sole ownership of the property entirely free from financial incumbrance, and he has thus main- tained it to the present time. In addition to his successful activities as a farmer Mr. Gum- bert has developed his mechanical skill, and his services have been widely in demand in the expert repairing of parlor organs throughout this entire section of northwestern Pennsyl- vania. He has musical talent, and by his own efforts has gained much skill in the playing of the organ, the dulcimer and the fife. He has been for thirty years fifer in a drum corps, and in this connection has assisted at innumerable celebrations of the Fourth of July. Decora- tion Dav, etc.

In 1885 Mr. Gumbert initiated his activities as an apiarist, and he has developed a profit- able enterprise in this line, with an apiary of about fifty stands at present. There has been

350

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

no year in all this period that he has failed to have a good supply of honey to sell. He has made a scientific study of the business, in which he is a recognized local authority, his advice being held in high esteem in the vari- ous beekeepers' associations. His farm, com- prising eighty acres, is devoted to diversified agriculture, and the raising of a consistent amount of good live stock. Mr. Gumbert has had no ambition for public office. He is one of a very few Republicans in a Democratic township, has served as a member of the elec- tion board, and in 1910 was United States census enumerator. He and his wife hold

membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Ohl, and he has served as a trus- tee as well as Sunday school superintendent.

On the 21st of September, 1876, Mr. Gum- bert married Emeline Motter, who was born in the western part of Beaver township, on the 7th of March, 1854, daughter of Peter and Sarah (Steel) Motter, whose marriage was celebrated in Mifflin county. Mr. Motter was a tailor by trade. In the forties Peter Motter came with his family to Jefferson county and settled on the west side of Red Bank, near the Clarion county line, where he developed a farm and where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, she having been seventy-one years of age at the time of her death, he attaining to the venerable age of eighty-two years. They became the parents of sixteen children, of whom Mrs. Gumbert and her twin sister, Carrie, were the youngest ; Carrie became the wife of Otto Aebi and was a resident of Fort Collins, Colo., at the time of her death, in December. 1915. Twelve of the children attained to maturity, and be- sides Mrs. Gumbert five others of the number are living in 1916: William is a resident of South Dakota ; Wesley lives at Lakemont, Pa., and George near Marysville. Perry county, this State; Sarah A. is the wife of Philip Spare. of Clarence. Mo .; Ellen E. is the wife of George Kuntzelman, of North Freedom, Arm- strong county.

Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Gumbert the eldest is Miss Myrtle Ellen, who remains at the parental home : Charles Wilson is em- ployed as a mechanical draftsman at Wil- merding. Allegheny county, and his brother Wesley Arthur is similarly engaged with the same company ; Lawson Norman is associated in the management of the old homestead ; Ed- win Furman holds a responsible position as a mechanical draftsman in a large manufactur- ing establishment at Niagara Falls. N. Y .: Franklin Clyde likewise is a skilled draftsman

and is employed by the same company as his brothers Charles and Wesley ; Anna Clare died in infancy. Charles, Edwin and Clyde all became successful teachers in the district schools of their home county, and all of the children have signally honored the family name.

Mr. Gumbert became a member of the Evan- gelical Association in 1866 and continued his affiliation with the same for thirty-nine years, at the expiration of which he and his wife transferred their membership to the Methodist Episcopal Church at Ohl. He has been an earnest worker in behalf of the cause of tem- perance and has otherwise done all in his power to further the moral and general civic welfare of the community where he has al- ways had his home and in which his circle of friends is limited only by that of his ac- quaintances.

MANUEL W. AND EDWARD REITZ. The earliest ancestor of whom this Jefferson county family has any knowledge was Andrew Reitz, who came from Germany and settled in eastern Pennsylvania, where he lived and died. He had two sons, Jacob and John.

Jacob Reitz, son of Andrew, died Sept. 26, 1838, aged fifty-seven years. He was blind for two years before his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Hepler, died Sept. 23, 1857, aged seventy-three years. They had children as follows: Lydia. Mrs. Dressler : Maria, Mrs. George Miller; Susanna, Mrs. Adam Zartman: Jacob ; Samuel ; Daniel ; Ben- jamin : Isaac; Joseph ; Zadoc; and Catherine, Mrs. Fagley.

Jacob Reitz, son of Jacob, above, was born Nov. 26, 1803. in Berks county, Pa., and in his boyhood moved with his parents to Nor- thumberland county. In April, 1842, he moved , with his family to Jefferson county, settling in Beaver township. He was a farmer by occupation, and became one of the leading agriculturists in his section. He married Elizabeth Wagner, who was born July 20, 1803, daughter of Jacob Wagner, the latter a native of Berks county, Pa., born Dec. 18. 1757. Mr. Wagner died May 27. 1833. in Nor- thumberland county, aged seventy-five years ; his wife, born Dec. 19, 1760, died May 7, 1813. aged fifty-two years. Jacob Reitz died Jan. 26, 1877, aged seventy-three years. his wife Elizabeth Reitz surviving until Nov. 27, 1887. reaching the age of eighty-four years. They were the parents of the following children : Hannah, born Sept. 1. 1825, died Sept. 6, 1825 ; Sarah Ann, born Nov. 12, 1826, married

351

JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Tobias Lankard, and moved to Missouri, where they lived until her death, in August. 1907, at the age of eighty-one years; Manuel W., born Dec. 6, 1829, died March 12, 1907, aged seventy-seven years ; Edward, born Sept. 1, 1831, died May 28, 1902, in his seventy-first year ; Aaron, born Aug. 7, 1834. died April 13, 1915, aged eighty years ; Jonathan, born Feb. 10, 1836, died June 16, 1887, aged fifty-one years ; Anna Maria, born Feb. 26, 1838, mar- ried Samuel Thomas, and they lived in Beaver township for many years, now resid- ing at Anita, Jefferson county ; Benjamin W .. born Feb. 23, 1841, died Dec. 28, 1914, aged seventy-three years; William, born Feb. 10, 1844, died Oct. 25, 1851, aged seven years.

MANUEL WAGNER REITZ, eldest son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Wagner) Reitz, was one of the most respected citizens of Jefferson county throughout a long and active life. Born in Northumberland county Dec. 6, 1829, he was in his thirteenth year when the family removed to Jefferson county, and old enough to appre- ciate the novelty of the journey, which was made in accordance with the facilities of the times, in the Conestoga wagons then so pop- ular as a means of conveyance. He always enjoyed recounting the interesting incidents of the trip, which was one of the events of his young life. Even in his early home, educa- tional advantages had been none too plenti- ful. but he and his younger brother Edward gave the required assistance to their parents and made the most of their opportunities by attending school alternate days, and they were so ambitious that they studied during spare hours and went over their lessons while at- tending to their tasks. Thus they managed to make good progress in the elementary studies. Having worked on the home farm until he reached the age of twenty-one years, Manuel W. Reitz then served two years learning the carpenter's trade, which he continued to fol- low until 1859. Meantime, in the spring of 1854, he and his brother Edward had gone out to Illinois and Iowa, where they worked as carpenters until their return to Jefferson county in 1857, after which they carried on the same business for several years more. Then for several years Manuel W. Reitz was engaged principally in official duties, having been appointed deputy sheriff in the fall of 1860. He was retained in that capacity for three years, and in the fall of 1863 was elected sheriff, which position he filled for a term of three years. At its close he turned to gen- eral merchandising in 1867, establishing him- self in that line at Stanton. this county, and

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 71

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