Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 73

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 73

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In 1834 Mr. Litch wedded Margaret Black, whose widowed mother, Mrs. Martha Black. was at that time a resident of the city of Pittsburgh. Mrs. Margaret Litch died in 1842, and is survived by no children. On the 17th of February, 1848, was solemnized the marriage

of Mr. Litch to Rebecca M. Eaton, who was born in the State of Massachusetts, a daugh- ter of Joseph Eaton. Mr. and Mrs. Litch be- came the parents of four children : Thomas W. is now deceased ; Harry Clay is given memorial tribute in succeeding paragraphs; Edward A. died Sept. 17, 1890; Annie, who became the wife of Samuel S. Henderson, of Brookville, is now deceased.

HARRY CLAY LITCH was born at Brookville on the 4th of February, 1854, and here his death occurred on the 19th of December, 1905. lle was afforded good educational advantages in his youth and early became actively associ- ated with his father's extensive business operations. As already shown, he became eventually a member of the firm of Litch Brothers, and after the death of his father he continued as one of the principals in the firm of Thomas K. Litch & Sons. He continued his association with the business until he and his brothers sold the same to A. Wayne Cook, of Pittsburgh, a well known lumberman, and thereafter he lived virtually retired until his (leath. He became a director of the Jefferson County National Bank at the time of its organ- ization and continued the incumbent of this position during the remainder of his earnest and noble life. He was a fancier of fine horses and cattle and for some time was the owner of one of the leading stock farms of his native county, situated near Brookville, the manage- ment of which gave him much pleasure and satisfaction. His religious faith was that of the Presbyterian Church, of which his widow is a devoted adherent. Mr. Litch had inviola- ble place in the confidence and esteem of the people of his native county, and it may con- sistently be said that his circle of friends was limited only by that of his acquaintances.

On Oct. 10, 1877, Harry C. Litch married Blanche J. Ramsay, of Broo' ille, and she still resides in the attractive home in that bor- ough. Mr. and Mrs. Litch had no children. Since the death of her husband she has cou- tinted a stockholder of the Jefferson County National Bank, in which she is his successor in the office of director. She is a daughter of the late John Ramsay, to whon. a brief memoir is dedicated in the following para- graph.

JOIIN RAMSAY was born and reared in Ire- land, and immigrated to America when twenty-one years of age. He first settled in Dauphin county, Pa., and in 1834 became one of the pioneers of Jefferson county. He was an early wagon manufacturer at Brookville, later served in local offices of public trust, and

THE . DK PULLIN LIENARY

ASTO , L' OX

TILCON F .DA IONS

Ralph Breitz

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lived retired there for many years prior to his death, which occurred in 1870. His wife, Sarah (Ferguson), survived him by more than twenty years, having been eighty-four years of age when called to the "land of the leal," in 1892. They were married in Center county, this State. Of their children the eldest, Mary, was the wife of Samuel McDowell, of Cur- wensville; Henrietta is the widow of Roswell P. Blood, and they resided in Brookville ; Wil- son died when about seventy-two years of age ; Frances is the wife of Joseph P. Taylor, of DuBois, Clearfield county ; Miss M. Louise re- sides at the old home ; Cecilia died when 'about fifty years of age ; Blanche J., widow of Harry C. Litch, was the next in order of birth; Josephine died young, and two sons died in infancy.

RALPH B. REITZ, D. D. S. In the char- acter and achievement of Dr. Reitz there has been clear demonstration of the truth of the philosophical statements of Schopenhauer to the effect that "A man does not represent a fraction, but a whole number ; he is complete in himself." The very fibre of his individ- uality is such that the Doctor must needs pass the stage of mediocrity in whatever course he directs his energies and powers, and thus he has brought to bear discrimination and dynamic force in both thought and action. He stands decisively as one of the represen- tative figures in the profession of his choice, a vocation that exemplifies both a science and a mechanic art, and in his splendidly appointed dental offices in New York City he receives a large and distinguished supporting patronage. As a native son of whom Jefferson county, Pa., may well be proud, his loyalty to and appreciation of the county is best shown in his acquirement of and deep interest in the magnificent rural estate "Broadacres," which he has here developed and which constitutes his country home, the property being one of the show places of this favored section of the Keystone State. By reason of his high stand- ing in his exacting profession, his close asso- ciation with the civic and industrial affairs of his native county and the genuine honor which he has given to a family name that has been one of prominence and influence in connection with the social and industrial history of Jeffer- son county, it is specially gratifying to be able to accord to Dr. Reitz specific recognition in this publication.

A son of Edward and Sarah ( Spare) Reitz, Dr. Ralph B. Reitz was born in Beaver town- ship, Jefferson Co., P'a., on the 3d of October,

1861.' In his youth he was afforded the ad- vantages of the public schools of the village of Stanton, this county, and this discipline was supplemented by a course of study in Belle- view Academy. In the autumn of 1879, when eighteen years of age, he initiated his service in the pedagogic profession, and as a repre- sentative of the same he taught three winter terms in the district schools of his native county, his compensation for the first term having been twenty-two dollars a month. His school claimed an enrollment of eighty pupils. and to administer the affairs of his dignified academic office the young teacher walked each day a distance of eight miles in going to and from his school. In the spring of 1881 he took a course in penmanship under the able preceptorship of P. R. Spencer, at Cleveland, Ohio, and for two summers thereafter he taught penmanship in Belleview Academy, in which institution, at Stanton, Pa., he himself had previously been a student. Soon after this course Mr. Spencer offered him a position as head of the penmanship department in one of his business colleges in the city of Mil- waukee, Wis., which he declined. His insis- tent scholastic ambition was thereafter shown forth in his availing himself in turn of the advantages of Chamberlain Institute, at Ran- dolph, N. Y., for the school year of 1883-84: Grove City Academy, at Grove City, Mercer Co., Pa .. 1884-85; and Allegheny College, Meadville, Pa., in which he was matriculated in 1885 and in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1889, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. During his senior year at Allegheny College, under appointment made by the president of the institution, Dr. Reitz acted as commissary of Hulings Hall board- ing club, which was conducted on the pro rata plan, and which afforded service to an average of about one hundred students, both ladies and gentlemen. In this connection the Doctor had charge of the purchasing of all food sup- plies, the keeping of accounts and the render- ing of monthly reports. The money which he thus earned aided in defraying the expenses of his collegiate course, and he further aug- mented his income by clerking on the principal market days, Saturdays and during vacation periods, in the dry goods store of A. M. Fuller & Company, of Meadville. He applied him- self from nine in the morning until nine at night, with the sum of $1.50 a day as his com- pensation. In the college he was prominently affiliated with the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

In the entire career of Dr. Reitz there has been no vacillation or uncertainty of purpose

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or action, and thus he was following along the course of a definite ambition, namely. a course in medicine as a foundation for a dental de- gree, when he became a student in the famous Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York City, where he pursued his studies with char- acteristic zeal and carnestness during the year 1889-90, the while he depended entirely upon his own resources in defraying his incidental expenses. After having thus continued his study of medicine for one year the ambitious young man found himself burdened with an indebtedness of $2,160, and in this exigency he consulted expediency by assuming the posi- tion of contracting agent for a Philadelphia concern, which he thus served until the autumn of 1893 and through the medium of which application he was not only enabled to liquidate his indebtedness but also to show to his credit a reserve of $3.700 in bank. With a financial reinforcement that fully justified such action. he then entered the department of den- tistry of the University of Pennsylvania, late in the autumn of 1893. Here his student record was again one of splendid order, as shown by the fact that he was one of the two men, in a class of eighty-five members. to receive honorable mention at graduation. his average standing in all studies of the course having been above ninety per cent. He was elected president of the class of 1896, but insistently fortified himself still further by taking an additional year of study in the dental college, in which he was thus graduated as a member of the class of 1897 and from which he received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. In making the fullest possible use of the curriculum of the institution he gave special attention to removable bridge work during the last two years of his course. By special arrangement with the teacher of this branch of operative and laboratory work Dr. Reitz devoted all of his otherwise spare time to assisting the Professor at his chair and work in his laboratory, this work being limited in duration to ten o'clock in the evening. In the house in which he was living at the time Dr. Reitz fitted up a private laboratory, and here his ambition held unmolested sway, for he was able to apply himself until the small hours of the morning. Work done at the office of his instructor during the daytime was duplicated by the student in his improvised private laboratory, and other practical work was achieved in furthering his proficiency in the use of the blowpipe. in finishing work. etc. On many an occasion the cock would crow on the present site of Franklin Field

of the University of Pennsylvania before Dr. Reitz would abandon work to seek his bed. Concerning his regimen at this period the fol- lowing statements are worthy of reproduc- tion : "While thus applying himself he would take a glass of malted milk in lieu of break- fast on arising in the morning, in order that he might be first in line at the clinic and thus secure a chair for operative work. To hold this chair he dispensed with luncheon alto- gether, and it may well be understood that none but a strong constitution and an invincible ambition could withstand such demands upon the physical and mental powers. During his preliminary experience in such operative work nearly all of Dr. Reitz's patients were student acquaintances. At the time of his gradua- tion there remained on the list thirty names of students that had not been reached, and in his operative work, which won for him a record of one hundred per cent, he attracted the attention of the entire student body."

A student of such pertinacity and deter- mined purpose could not fail to have the cour- age demanded in establishing himself in a great metropolitan center, where the gaining of a foothold was certain to be more trying, even as were the possible rewards the greater. Accordingly, early in November, 1897. Dr. Reitz established his residence in New York City and girded himself for the winning of success in his chosen profession. In complet- ing his technical education he had been com- pelled to extend his financial credit, and thus at the inception of his active service in his profession he was measurably handicapped by an indebtedness of $1,177. Under these conditions he was desirous of arranging to enter the employ of some established dentist, on a salary basis, but as he was not successful in perfecting such an alliance of a satisfactory order, he responded to the solicitation of sev- eral New York dentists and in their respective laboratories gave them instruction in making removable crown-and-bridge work. For such service he received five dollars an hour, and in the meanwhile he passed the Board of Re- gents examination for license to practice dentistry in the State of New York, in which connection he was awarded the Purple Seal of Honor, which was attached to his diploma issued by the Board of Regents. Feb. 8. 1898. his grades in the examination having averaged ninety-five and three fourths per cent.

In May. 1898. Dr. Reitz opened an office at No. 244 East Fiftieth street, New York City. and in November of the following year he removed to more eligible quarters, at No. 38

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East Sixty-first street. There he continued to give his close and effective attention to his constantly expanding practice until the Ist of October, 1908, when he removed to what was then called the Howard building, No. 576 Fifth avenue, a structure now known as the Starr building. Here the Doctor has a splen- did suite of five rooms, constituting one of the most handsomely appointed and best equipped dental offices in the national metropolis. The rooms are finished in natural woods of ex- ceptional beauty, and the walls are adorned with paintings by celebrated artists.

In initiating practice in New York City Dr. Reitz was not favored by the influence of more than a very limited number of personal ac- quaintances or by any definite affiliations. That his ability and popularity have enabled him to build up a large and lucrative practice and to draw his clientele principally from rep- resentative and influential families in the metropolis, with scores of patrons from other parts of the United States, purely on the merits of his work, is a matter in which the Doctor may well take special pride and satis- faction. He is to-day one of the influential and successful exponents of the best in modern dental science. and none has more fully mer- ited such success and prestige than this ster- ling and ambitious practitioner.

The acme of refined taste and artistic appre- ciation is exemplified in the appointments of the offices of Dr. Reitz, and his fine collec- tion of paintings and bronzes denotes him as the connoisseur in art and as the appreciative patron of the same. He has, notwithstanding the exactions of a signally active and exact- ing professional career, found time and oppor- tunity to give comprehensive study to art production, to form the acquaintance of a considerable number of artists and to familiar- ize himself with their work. In all things he has shown himself to be the apostle of ex- cellence. Robert Louis Stevenson is respon- sible for one of his favorite mottoes : "I know what pleasure is, for I have done good work." He is an excellence-finding critic and has a keen sense for and appreciation of skill mani- fested in any line of endeavor. Superiority of workmanship never fails to challenge his ad- miration, while slipshod and indifferent effort calls forth his denunciation and disgust. Even as in his profession. nothing but the best achievement is satisfactory to him. As a citi- zen he is broadminded, loyal and progressive.

As evidence of the close relationship which Dr. Reitz still maintains with his native county the following narrative from "The Pennsyl-

vania Farmer" of Oct. 18, 1913, is well worthy of perpetuation : "From the time he was old enough to successfully swing an old-fashioned mowing scythe, he has been interested in farm- ing. He was interested first as a village boy whose father believed in having his six sons made familiar with every branch of farm work. All of these sons now own farms. Afterwards, both before and after his gradua- tion from classical and professional schools, his vacations were spent on the farm. Later, entering upon the active duties of his profes- sion, his choice for summer occupation did not change. Trips to Europe or in his own country did not offer sufficient charm to sup- plant his fondness for active farm life. It has been liis fixed purpose to retire from thie ac- tive practice of his profession at sixty and to spend his declining years in digging and delv- ing and pruning. With this ideal end in view. the Doctor has accumulated four hundred and fourteen acres of land in the county which was the place of his birth and in which his circle of friends is coincident with that of his ac- quaintances. His purpose from the beginning. in January, 1912, has been to elevate the standard of farining by employing the most approved methods and systems in carrying out advanced ideas of agricultural science, as well as to demonstrate the possibilities of fruit cul- ture in his native county and State, at the same time not losing sight of the ultimate suc- cess of the project commercially, which is after all the true test. In April, 1912, Rich- ard E. Reitz, the youngest brother of the Doc- tor, assumed the direct management of the lat- ter's fine rural estate, to which was applied soon afterwards the title of 'Broadacres.'

The administration buildings are located four miles north of Brookville, the judicial center of Jefferson county ; over twenty-one miles of tile drain have been laid ; nearly nine thousand fruit trees are growing on the estate at the time of this writing, in 1916, most of these being of standard varieties of apples and peaches : almost seven thousand bushels of potatoes were grown in 1913, and nearly eight thousand bushels in the following year-this being a record for the largest crops ever grown by an individual landowner in this section of the State. The great barn on the estate of Broadacres is a fine modern structure that is fifty by one hundred and forty-four feet in dimensions. Every square inch of storage ca- pacity in this mammoth barn is demanded and fully utilized, and thrift and prosperity stand proudly forth in all parts of the splendid do- main. A complete system of bookkeeping has

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been inaugurated, in which is displayed a rec- ord of all operations and their expense, in- cluding an account with each individual crop. By this system the owner knows to a penny just where he stands at the close of each day. These books are open for the inspection of visitors who may be interested. Broadacres stands essentially as an ideal country estate, and it is needless to say that the popular owner is constantly devising ways and means for the further improvement and embellishment of the property, which is under his direct super- vision from early in July until Oct. Ist each year. During this time his household consists of his sisters, Mrs. W. S. Weaver, Ella, Sara, and his brother Richard. While here he keeps himself entirely free from professional con- cern and by active outdoor life renews himself in body and spirit for his professional ac- tivities during the nine months following. During the warm days and evenings of sum- mer the big porch is the scene of much merri- ment and good fellowship, which later in the season is transferred to the large living room, where, in the genial glow of the firelight with the inscription, "Come sit beside my hearth, 'Tis wide for gentle companie," in artistic letters on the mantlepiece above it, content- ment and happiness reign supreme. Here old friendships are kept up and new ones made. At no other time is Dr. Reitz so happy as when surrounded by a party of friends enjoying his hospitality. The numerous visitors interested in farming, who come and go all summer long. find a cordial welcome and readiness on the part of the owner to discuss methods and give reasons of procedure. Dr. Reitz is a firm believer in total abstinence. Having lived in one of New York's leading clubs for many years, and constantly thrown into the society of those who indulge in a social glass, he has never taken a drink of intoxicating liquor in his life and has never even tasted wine or beer.

Dr. Reitz is an appreciative and valued member of the First District Dental Society of the State of New York. and was actively identified with the Odontological Society until the same was merged into the organization just mentioned. He is also a member of the Dental Society of the State of New York and the National Dental Association. He held membership in the New York Athletic Club from 1901 to 1914, and in the national metrop- olis he holds membership also in the Lotus Club, where he has resided since 1908, and in the Pennsylvania Society of New York. From boyhood he has been a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church.

LADD M. AND HARRY W. REITZ, pro- prietors of the famous Cloverdale Farms in Rose township, four miles south of Brookville, the county seat of Jefferson county, are main- taining in the various enterprises carried on at their estate the high reputation of their name in the field of agriculture. Wherever known it stands for progress and leadership, various members of the family having by their achievements upheld the high standards of ex- cellence in public service as well as private enterprises for which the Reitzes are noted. Their history has been interwoven with that of Pennsylvania and Jefferson county for sev- eral generations.

Ladd M. and Harry W. Reitz have been associated in much the same way as their father and uncle, Edward and Manuel W. Reitz, were. They were born at Stanton, one mile south of their present home, and had excellent school and home training under the guidance of intelligent parents. These broth- ers from early boyhood were united in pur- pose, namely, to follow farming as a pursuit, and none of life's prizes loomed up big enough to dissuade them from their original ambition. Employed by their father in his farming opera- tions until the time of his death, in 1902, they gained a complete knowledge of agriculture as he understood it, which was fully up to the best of his time in this locality. During the winter of 1894 Ladd M. Reitz took a short course in the Pennsylvania State Agricultural College, which gave him an outlook over the field of agriculture in its scholastic aspects. This served as an impetus to wider reading and a better knowledge of the scientific side of farming, which, combined with his practical proficiency previously acquired, showed imme- diate results. After their father's death in 1902 they purchased from the estate 220 acres and have since acquired 227 more, making over four hundred acres, which during their ownership has become widely famed as Clover- dale Farms. In 1903 they built the residence there and moved to that place. Meantime, though living at Stanton, they have continued work on the property, in the development of which they have spared neither energy nor expense, though all their expenditures have been wisely placed. It has great natural ad- vantages for stock farming purposes, having an abundant supply of the finest spring water. and for several years they kept quite a large herd of cattle, often feeding thirty-five or forty head all through the winter, consuming all the hay and straw produced on their own land and sometimes more, bought elsewhere.

LASGARY

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1 IONS

Rufus & Reity.

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After fattening on the rich pasturage this stock was put on the market and brought ex- cellent results. Calves were also purchased and fattened for the market, the Cloverdale veal being in great demand. The soil has been carefully conserved with a liberal use of lime phosphates, besides the animal fertilizers pro- duced on the place, which frequently amount to as much as three hundred tons annually. Duroc Jersey swine have been raised for both breeding and market purposes, and some of their herd have taken honors at the fairs. This branch of the enterprise has been under the direct management. of Harry Reitz from the start. His genius for the profitable breeding. raising and marketing of swine is exceptional. and he is regarded as a practical authority on this subject. A large number of White Plym- outh Rock chickens are also kept. Ladd Reitz assumed the care of the chickens, and no sim- ilar number of hens in the county have been more profitable to their owner. It is an im- pressive sight to see him surrounded by sev- eral hundred of these thrifty, snow-white birds at feeding time.

The usual variety of crops is grown, but the potato crops have been especially notable, the production having reached three thousand bushels in a year, before the introduction of planting and harvesting machinery. For a number of years they were the most exten- sive potato growers in the county, and in fact may very properly be regarded as the pioneers in large acreage potato growing in the county, holding the record for largest crops until 1913. Extensive fruit orchards also have been laid out at Cloverdale, the more elevated portions yielding generous crops of marketable apples which have added considerably to the general income from the lands. In thrift and pro- ductiveness their orchards will compare very favorably with any others in the State. Un- derneath there are valuable coal deposits now being mined, and the mines provide a ready market for thousands of mine props, timber which would have been rejected in the earlier days as unfit for market now bringing a price much in excess of that paid for the finest pine in former years. All the operations on the Farms have been thoroughly systematized from a business standpoint, and separate ac- counts are kept for each crop or class of stock, so that the exact showing is accessible at any time and comparison easily made between the more and less profitable work.

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Jefferson County, Pennsylvania : her pioneers and people, 1800-1915, Volume II, Part 73

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