Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 72

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 72

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he also entered the lumber business. He was associated in business with his brothers Ed- ward, Aaron and Benjamin, as Edward Reitz & Brothers, until 1873, when he disposed of his mercantile interests to them and built a steam sawmill in Knox township, this county, operating it until the fall of 1887, associated with Philip Spare. His energy and executive ability combined with honorable dealing to make the venture highly successful, but he had to give it up because of failing health, and he afterwards lived in practical retirement, though he always looked after his farm lands and other interests. He also served as justice of the peace, and acted as executor, admin- istrator and guardian of various estates, his good judgment and absolute trustworthiness making him especially eligible for such serv- ices. Mr. Reitz cast his vote for Fremont in 1856, and from that time to the close of his life was an earnest supporter of the prin- ciples of the Republican party.

Mr. Reitz's whole life was one of honorable example and practical Christianity. But one of the most beautiful things in his life was his close association with his brother Edward and the latter's family. He never married, and he made his home with his brother Edward from 1863 until the latter's death, in 1902, after which he lived with his nephews, Ladd M. and Harry W. Reitz, at the Cloverdale Farms. There he passed away March 12, 1907, after almost six weeks' illness, at the age of seventy-seven years. The funeral services were held in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Stanton, by the pastor, Rev. John E. Allgood, assisted by H. G. Hall, D. D., of Oil City (a former pastor of the Belleview charge and a warm personal friend of Mr. Reitz), Rev. J. A. McCamey, of Brookville, and Rev. Adair, pastor of the United Pres- byterian Church of Stanton. Mr. Reitz had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church from 1870. he and his brother Edward joining at the same time, and he lived his faith in his every-day life as few men attempt to do. He served his home church as steward and trustee and assisted in the furtherance of all its works, but it was in the unassuming goodness of his private life that his convictions were best manifested. The Brookville Repub- lican of March 21, 1907, in an extensive obit- uary notice, said :

"Manuel Wagner Reitz was a good and use- ful citizen and leaves behind him the rich heritage of a life well spent. He was upright and just in all things, and while permitted to live to a good old age, his taking away is deeply

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mourned in the community where he was loved and honored by old and young. He was true to himself, true to his friends, and true to the community in which he had his home. One of the greatest pleasures was in doing some kind deed for his fellow man, to be a benefit to some one, to treat his neighbor and his friend with justice and with equity and with an open hand. He was never known to speak ill of any man, friend or foe, but was always ready to shield and protect under the possibility of error or doubt. The ennobling influences of his life are so indelibly imprinted in the minds of all who knew him that time itself will not erase them or permit them to die or fade away, but they will live to his honor and the good of the community that he loved so well." Mr. Reitz was buried in the family plot in the Berkhouse cemetery in Beaver township.

EDWARD REITZ was born Sept. 1, 1831, in Northumberland county, came with the family to Jefferson county in 1842, and remained at home until he reached his majority. He and his older brother Manuel, who were always closely associated, helped with the work at home in boyhood, and took turns attending school, as both could not be spared all the time even for the short terms then customary in rural districts. After becoming of age he learned the carpenter's trade, which he fol- lowed in Illinois and Iowa from 1854 to 1857. having gone West with his brother Manuel.

In 1859 Mr. Reitz married Sarah Spare, daughter of H. W. Spare, of Beaver town- ship, and thirteen children were born to them. ten reaching maturity and still living, viz .: Ralph B., Gilmore C., Emma ( Mrs. Stewart Weaver), Ella M .. Letitia (Mrs. W. A. Johns), Ladd M., Joseph S., Harry W., Sara C. and Richard E.

In 1863 Mr. Reitz was appointed deputy sheriff under his brother, who had been elected sheriff in the fall of that year, served through- out the term, and in the meantime lived at Brookville, to which place he had moved in 1861, in the interest of his father-in-law, H. W. Spare. At the close of his term as deputy, in 1866, he settled at Stanton, and in company with his three brothers became engaged in the general mercantile business, in which he was later associated with his son Gilmore C. He prospered, and also acquired valuable inter- ests as a farmer and stock raiser, having ex- tensive investments, all of which turned out well, thanks to his capable management and honorable methods. He also took his share of the responsibilities of government, serving as constable and justice of the peace, and he

was postmaster at Stanton for over twenty years, though he never sought such honors, ac- cepting them as part of his duty toward the community. He was a Republican in political sentiment, and his sons have given their alle- giance to the same party. In 1870 he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was ever afterwards a faithful inember, fulfilling every obligation with the strict regard for the duties of Christian service that his high standards imposed. He was a class leader from the time he became connected with the church until his death.

Mrs. Reitz died July 31, 1891, at the age of fifty years, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which the family have all adhered. The rearing of so large a family naturally occupied a large part of her attention and her interest was centered in her home, where her friends always found pleasure and were made welcome. She was one of the seven women who founded the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Jefferson county in 1873.

While Mr. Reitz's educational advantages during boyhood had been exceedingly meager, and his knowledge of literature very limited. these deficiencies were counterbalanced in a large degree by innate mental qualities which gave him breadth of vision and the ability to reason from cause to effect in a manner pos- sessed by few. His known rectitude, good judgment and sincerity, coupled with a rare personal magnetism and natural power of ex- pression, made him a forcible and convincing speaker. At community meetings, whether educational, political or religious, he was al- ways in demand and never disappointed his audience. His sources of information were the daily and church papers and the Bible, and armed with information thus gained and his ability to apply it to the every-day prob- lems many times elicited the admiration even of those schooled in public speaking. He was one of the prime movers in the organization and maintenance of the Belleview Academy, an institution of marked influence during the twenty-nine years of its existence. Many students who afterwards became prominent in their chosen fields of endeavor received their first incentive toward a higher education in this school. Mr. Reitz had an unusual person- ality, which was an inspiration to the right- thinking individual and acted as a restrain- ing influence upon those evilly disposed. Pro- fane persons seldom swore in his presence. He was a man of warm sympathies, always ready with counsel or advice, tempered with

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sound judgment. Before the days of the trained nurse it was not an unusual occur- rence for him to drive several miles after nightfall to the humble home of some sick friend and sit with him and attend to his wants during the night, returning to his own home in time for business the following day. It was not infrequently that his presence was sought by those who felt their lives were draw- ing to a close, and his reading and explanation of the Scriptures, and prayers, gave them great comfort during their last hours. Fond of mingling and exchanging views with neigh- bors and acquaintances, it was nevertheless, in his own home, surrounded by his family, that he was happiest. His death came sud- denly, as he had often expressed the hope that it might, on May 28, 1902, and was a great shock to the community in which he lived and to a wide circle of acquaintanceship, among whom the force of his high character had been felt for years.

The following quotation from a letter writ- ten by a former pastor to a friend of the fam- ily seems appropriate in this connection: "A most magnificent man has fallen, one of the best I ever knew. . . . I could not tell you what he has been to me in my early ministry, when my life was thrown with his, and his friendship stuck through all the years since. I do not think I ever knew so well balanced a man in all my life as was he, a man of rare judgment, cool head, deliberate when others would have been hot-headed and reckless ; a man of magnificent Godliness, of pure life, devout heart ; a man as true to what he saw as right as the needle to the pole. . . . I have never known a man whom I have used so much in illustration when trying to preach as I have the life of Edward Reitz. He has gone- the good, the great, the noble."

GILMORE C. REITZ, of Brookville, son of Edward and Sarah ( Spare) Reitz, has been associated with business interests there as a merchant and banker for many years, and has also done his share in promoting the social and public welfare of the community. In enter- prise. thrift and general good citizenship he is a typical member of the family to which he belongs, and which has had a number of credit- able representatives in several generations here. He was born March 14, 1863, in Brook- ville, Pa., second son of Edward Reitz, and three years later, with his parents, moved to Stanton (also known as Belleview), Jefferson county, where he received such an education as his village school afforded, attending reg-

ularly until ready to take a permanent place as his father's assistant. Naturally he learned the details of the mercantile business early, entering his father's store as a clerk when seventeen years old, and in the year 1887 he became a partner, from that time assuming much of the responsibility. As his father had other interests which demanded so much of his time the son finally came to take practically the entire charge of the store, in which he con- tinued to retain an interest for a number of years, meantime making a specialty of agri- cultural implements, which he was especially successful in demonstrating and selling. He handled harvesting machinery largely, and made a three months' trip every year selling farm machinery, becoming the leading sales- man in his line in the county. He handled the Walter A. Wood products. His stock of mer- chandise was large and well selected, and his establishment always commanded a profitable patronage. For a number of years he was prominently associated with public affairs, having served as town clerk, school director and overseer of the poor, and also as post- master at Stanton for three years. Having been elected county treasurer in November, 1899, he moved to Brookville Dec. 15th of that year, assuming his official duties in Jan- uary, 1900, for a term of three years. In November, 1902, he was elected register and recorder of the county, and served as such for three years with great credit. Prior to 1912 he was identified with the Republican party in Jefferson county.

Upon his retirement from the office of regis- ter and recorder Mr. Reitz engaged in farming for one year, though he continued to make his home in Brookville during that time. In Jan- uary, 1904, he became a member of the Reitz Furniture Company, of that borough, with which he is still connected, in partnership with his cousin, Rufus G. Reitz. Other important local enterprises have also received his sup- port. He was the first treasurer of the Brook- ville Title & Trust Company for the purpose of organization, and one of the original direc- tors. still holding the latter position. He is president and a director of the Brookville Republican, Inc., publishers of the Brookville Republican, the leading weekly newspaper in Jefferson county. Mr. Reitz has numerous social connections, and has at various times been active in the following orders: The Grange, the Order of United American Me- chanics, the Odd Fellows (of which he is a past grand) and the Masonic fraternity ; as a Mason he holds membership in Hobah Lodge,

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No. 276. F. & A. M., and Jefferson Chapter, No. 225. R. A. M., of Brookville; Bethany Commandery, No. 83, K. T., of DuBois; Cou- dersport Consistory, thirty-second degree ; and Jaffa Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S .. of Altoona, Pa. He is a prominent worker in the Meth- odist Episcopal Church of Brookville, a mem- ber of the official board, and one of the build- ing committee for the erection of the new church dedicated Nov. 26, 1911, constructed at a cost of seventy-two thousand dollars, ex- clusive of the value of the lot. As a member of the board of directors of the local Young Men's Christian Association from its institu- tion in 1906, he has been interested and active in that work. The work preliminary to his election to the offices he has held and his busi- ness affiliations have taken him into every nook and corner of his native county, where he is favorably known by a very large acquaintance, most of whom address him by the first syllable of his given name. Sympathetic and genial by nature, and imbued with the true spirit of camaraderie and genuine helpfulness, he is a popular figure in the business section of the county seat.

On Oct. 24, 1888, Mr. Reitz married Minnie Haupt, daughter of Rev. William Haupt, a minister of the United Evangelical Church. Mr. Haupt was a native of Armstrong county, Pa. Mrs. Reitz was born Sept. 29, 1867. After receiving a good common school educa- tion she attended Covode Academy, in In- diana county, Pa., and Pittsburgh Female College, fitting herself for teaching music, which profession she followed successfully until her marriage. Mrs. Reitz died April I, 1904. in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the five children born to this union, Ruth R. is the wife of M. L. Hanagriff, of Ridgway, Pa .; Florence C. is a supervisor of music and drawing : Edward H. is engaged as a clerk; William O. is taking an agricul- tural course at State College; Margaret H. is attending Thomas Training School at Detroit, Mich. On Oct. 18, 1910, Mr. Reitz married (second) Mary Ethel Rue, daughter of Rev. J. W. Rue, D. D., and Sarah J. Rue, of Waynesboro, Pa. Mrs. Reitz, in addition to acquiring a good common school education. took a three years' course at Pennsylvania Academy and School of Industrial Art, Phila- delphia. Before her marriage for several years she was a successful teacher of music and drawing in the public schools of Oxford, Clarion and Brookville.

LITCH FAMILY.' This family is one whose name has been long and prominently identified with the history of Jefferson county. and its original representatives in America set- tled in New England in the Colonial days, the lineage tracing back to the stanchest of Scotch-Irish stock. Thomas Litch, father of the first representative of the name at Brook- ville, Jefferson Co., Pa., died at Fitchburg. Mass., in 1818, when fifty years of age. His wife, who was of English ancestry and whose maiden name was Hannah Kimball, attained to the venerable age of eighty years and con- tinued to maintain her home at Fitchburg. where she was summoned to the life eternal in 1870.

THOMAS K. LITCH, son of Thomas and Hannah (Kimball) Litch, was born at Fitch- burg, the judicial center of Worcester county, Mass., on the 22d of December, 1808, and when a lad of fourteen years there entered upon an apprenticeship to the trade of ma- chinist, in the shop of Martin Newton, the while he continued to attend school as oppor- tunity afforded. After a virtual apprenticeship of six years he went to the city of Worcester, where he was employed for a time as a jour- neyman. In February. 1829. he established his residence at Pittsburgh, Pa., where for five years he was connected with the Bemis foun- dry and machine shop. He then became senior member of the firm of T. K. Litch & Com- pany, general founders and machinists, who established their plant at the "Point" on Water street. Pittsburgh. A very extensive and pros- perous business was developed and the firm became specially prominent and successful in the manufacturing of steam engines, both sta- tionary and portable, as well as sugar mills and other high-grade machinery. There were at the time only ten foundries in Pittsburgh, and some of the older residents of that city will be able to recall to mind the celebrated "Clipper" engine, which was invented by Mr. Litch and manufactured in his establishment, this engine having been used on the more important steam- boats plying on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers between Pittsburgh and New Orleans. It is interesting to record that engines of this type, representing certain improvements on the orig- inal design of Mr. Litch, are used on vessels owned and operated by the United States gor- ernment at the present time. Mr. Litch had the distinction of building and equipping the first steamboat launched on the waters of beau- tiful Chautauqua Lake, New York, the same having been placed in commission between the ports of Mayville and Jamestown, Chautauqua

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county. He also constructed in his foundry and machine shops the first hand fire-engine ttsed in the city of Pittsburgh. In 1837 Mr. Litch was elected a member of the city coun- cil of Pittsburgh, an office in which he served three terms. He was a charter member of the old Reliable Western Insurance Company of Pittsburgh and continued as a member of its board of directors until his removal from that city, where he was known and honored as a representative man of affairs. a broad-minded and progressive citizen.

In 1850 Thomas K. Litch removed with his family to Jefferson county and established his home at Brookville. He had previously ef- fected the purchase of valuable timber lands in this county, as well as of the flour and saw mills of Robert P. Barr, at Brookville. Within a short time after his removal to the county Mr. Litch erected a new and well equipped sawmill and perfected his plans for greatly expanding the scope and importance of his industrial enterprise. In 1854 he effected the organization of the Redbank Navigation Company, for which he obtained a charter from the State Legislature by means of the executive interposition of Judge Isaac G. Gor- don, became president of this company, was the most resourceful figure in upbuilding the substantial and valuable business enterprise of the corporation, and continued as executive head of the same until the time of his death. The company put into service a line of trans- portation vessels that proved of incalculable value in furthering the success of lumbering operations in this section of the State, and that in importance was not excelled by even the railroad facilities that were later provided. Prior to the establishing of the service of the Redbank Navigation Company lumbering op- erations in this part of Pennsylvania had been conducted on a small scale, and the timber products arrived in the accessible markets, if. indeed, they reached them at all, in such de- teriorated condition as to prevent their sale for the manufacturing of lumber of the first or even second class.

In 1856 both the old and the new sawmills of Mr. Litch were destroyed by fire, but he forthwith replaced the same by a new and thoroughly modern mill, which was operated by steam power and which had an annual ca- pacity for the turning out of three million feet of lumber. Keeping in advance of the demands placed upon his establishment, in 1869-70 MIr. Litch rebuilt and otherwise greatly improved his sawmill, which at this time he made the largest in Jefferson county. A skilled artisan

himself, he always showed his good judgment by employing competent men to assist in car- rying forward his operations. Honest and capable workmen were always glad to enter his employ, as they were assured of fair and considerate treatment and prompt pay for their services, the while they could not but accord to their employer the fullest measure of con- fidence and esteem. One of the valued em- ployes who remained longest in his service was Silas Miller, who accompanied him on his removal from Pittsburgh to Brookville, in 1850, and who was a skilled engineer. Mr. Miller continued his services with his honored employer for many years, and until long after the organization of the firm of T. K. Litch & Sons. Among other valued employes who re- mained with Mr. Litch for periods varying from ten to twenty years were Charles Sitz, William Goss and John D. Smith, all of whom gained place as honored and valued citizens of Jefferson county.

Mr. Litch was a man of marked executive and initiative ability, ordered his course on a lofty plane of personal integrity and honor, and was accorded the unqualified esteem of all who knew him and had appreciation of his sterling attributes of character. He was one of the most vital and progressive men of his day in Jefferson county, was well fortified in his convictions concerning matters of com- munity and governmental import, and was essentially liberal and public-spirited in his civic attitude, with the result that he did mtich to further the civic and material progress and prosperity of his home borough and county. He gave his influence and ready cooperation in the furtherance of objects and enterprises projected for the general good, and his name is held in lasting honor in the county where he lived and labored so effectively.

In 1878 Mr. Litch became foremost in pro- moting and effecting the organization of the Jefferson County National Bank, and upon its incorporation he was elected its first president. this chief executive office having been retained by him until his death, and his wise and con- servative policies having been potent in the upbuilding of this solid and popular banking institution. He was likewise one of the loyal and earnest promoters and supporters of the Brookville Cemetery Company, and assisted materially in the development of the beautiful cemetery in which rest the remains of so many of the honored citizens who have lived and wrought in Jefferson county, a consistent mon- timent marking his own resting place in this ideal "God's Acre."

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In 1876, owing to his declining health, Mr. Litch turned the active management of his entire lumbering and flour milling interests over to his two youngest sons, Harry C. and Edward A. Litch, and incidental to this action the name of the firm was changed to Litch Brothers. The two sons, thoroughly trained in the business, proved worthy successors of their honored father and successfully con- tinued the large and important industrial en- terprise until he was called from the stage of life's mortal endeavors. Upon his death the business came into the control of the two sons and other members of the family, the inter- ested principals being his widow and his sons, Thomas W., Harry C. and Edward A., and the name of the firm being then changed to Thomas K. Litch & Sons, in order that the name of the revered father might be perpet- uated in connection with the substantial enter- prise of which he had been the founder.

The old Litch mills, impaired by long service, were further damaged by the memorable floods of 1884, when brackets, dam cribs, booms and bridges utilized by the firm were swept away, resulting in the erection in that year of a fine sawmill operated by steam power. This mill was erected at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars and provided a capacity for the output of fifty thousand feet of lumber a day. These brief data indicate sufficiently for the purpose of this article that the influence of the Litch family has been of great importance in connection with the industrial and commercial activities of Jeffer- son county and the progress and upbuilding of Brookville both in a civic and material sense, and it is significantly due that in this publica- tion be entered an appreciative tribute to the memory of the late Thomas K. Litch, the strong man, the useful citizen, the loyal friend. He was all that was liberal and public-spirited as a citizen, but he had no desire for the com- plexities and associations of practical politics and no ambition for the honors or perqui- sites of public office. He was a man of deep religious convictions, and both he and his wife were earnest members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Litch passed to eternal rest on the 14th of August, 1882, after an illness of several months, and his wife died in Feb- ruary, 1891.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 72

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