USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > Portrait and biographical record of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 56
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H ENRY B. ESBENSIIADE. The substan- tial and well-to-do citizens of Binkley's Bridge have no better representative than our subject, who stands among the keen, progress- ive, business-like farmers and stock-raisers who are so ably conducting the agricultural interests of this part of the county. lle is the son of Jacob and Maria ( Binkley) Esbenshade, and was born in Manheim Township, Lancaster County, November 8. 1844.
The ancestors of our subject were of German extraction. Peter Esbenshade. the grandfather, emigrated from the Fatherland when a young man, and spent the rest of his life in this county, dying in 1845. He was a shoemaker by trade, but in later life engaged in agricultural pursuits, in which occupation he was very successful, amassing over two hundred acres of excellent farming land, divided into three farms. A Whig in politics, he took a lively interest in the welfare of his commu- nity. lle married Mrs. Elizabeth (Ilowry) Le- fever, and to them were born four sons, Henry, Jacob and David (deceased), and Josephi, a retired farmer living in this county.
The father of our subject started out in life a poor man, and for the first five years after leaving home, lived on one of his father's farms. In 1830 he purchased property in this township, to which he added from time to time as his means would allow, until at his decease he was the possessor of eight valuable farms in different parts of the conn- ty, aggregating over seven hundred acres. Ile was one of the wealthiest men in Lancaster Coun- ty, being worth $260.000, besides $30,000 which he had already divided among his children. Ile was a stanch Republican in politics, and was a man greatly honored and respected in his community. Often he was called upon to act as administrator
in the settlement of valuable estates, among them being that of Daniel Brubaker, one of the substan- tial residents of this county.
The parents of our subject were married Jann- ary 5, 1832. Mrs. Esbenshade was the daughter of David Binkley, brother of the builder of the bridge which now bears the family name, and which was the first to span the Conestoga River. Their union resulted in the birth of thirteen chil- dren: Elizabeth, Christian B., Barbara, Susan, Ja- cob, Maria, Henry, David. Amanda, Isaac, Peter, Anna and John.
The subject of this sketch was the recipient of a good education gained in the public schools, and has followed farm pursuits all his life. Having surmounted all difficulties with the energy charac- teristic of him, he is now one of the wealthy and Jarge landowners of Lancaster County, having mn his possession three hundred and forty broad and well cultivated acres. He is a member of the Reformed Church, and his political sympathies are with the Republican party.
December 20, 1866, Mr. Esbenshade married Miss Adeline, daughter of Jacob Weidler, a pros- perous farmer of this township. To them were granted five children, namely: Ada, wife of Abram Kreider, residing in East Lampeter Township; Minnie; Noah, deceased; Harvey and Henry. Mr. Esbenshade is at all times and in all ways inter- ested in worthy causes, and never fails to give his influence for the good of the community of which he forms a leading member. A popular man, es- teemed for his integrity and nobleness of pur- pose, hie ranks high among the citizens of the county.
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e HIRISTIAN B. ESBENSHADE is a repre- sentative of an old family of this county, and is numbered among its wealthy farm- ers and stock-raisers. In Manheim Township, of which he is one of the leading citizens, his name is held in honor and respect. Ile is the son of Jacob and Maria (Binkley) Esbenshade, and was born on
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FLINT SPRING FARM, PROPERTY OF C. B. ESBENSHADE, DE MILES NORTH OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.
FARM RESIDENCE OF HENRY B. ESBENSHADE, 212 MILES NORTHEAST OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.
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the old homestead in the above township, February 28, 1834.
Peter Esbenshade, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was born in Ilesse-Darmstadt, Germany, Au- gust 17, 1763, and emigrating to the United States, settled in Lancaster County, Pa., where he died July 20, 1845. He was a shoemaker by trade. which occupation he followed for some time after coming hither, but the later years of his life were devoted to agricultural. In this vocation he was very successful, and at the time of his decease left three good farms, aggregating over two hundred acres of well cultivated land. In political matters he was a Whig. Soon after coming to America he married Mrs. Elizabeth (Howry) Lefever, a widow with three sons, Daniel, George and John, who are now deceased. Their union resulted in the birth of four sons, Henry, Jacob and David, all of whom are deceased, and Joseph, a retired farmer living in Lancaster County.
Jacob Esbenshade, the father of our subject, was born on the old home farm in Paradise Township, January 18, 1805, and after receiving a good edu- eation remained at home until reaching his twenty- fifth year, when he commenced farming on one of his father's estates. About 1830 he purchased the property in Manheim Township which is now owned by lis son, our subject. Ile started in life comparatively a poor man, but by industry and economy kept adding to his property until at one time he had in his possession six good farms in Laneaster County, aggregating in all about six hundred acres. Ile was regarded as one of the wealthiest farmers in this section, but being very reticent regarding his business affairs, even his own family did not know his worth in dollars and cents until after his death. In politics he was a stanch Republican, and was the recipient of various posi- tions of honor and trust. Ile was frequently called upon to act as administrator in the settlement of valuable estates, and aeted as such for the family of Daniel Brubaker.
On the 5th of January, 1832, Jacob Eshenshade married Maria, daughter of David Binkley, a miller of Binkley's Bridge. To them were born the fol- lowing-named children: Elizabeth, Christian B., Barbara, Susan, Jacob, Maria, David, Henry, Peter,
Amanda, Isaac. Anna and John. The husband and father died November 10, 1884; his good wife pre- eeded him to the better land, passing from earth March 19, 1879.
The subject of this sketch was reared on the home farm and educated in the public schools, re- maining at home until reaching his thirty-second year, when he located upon the farm he is at pres- ent occupying. He was engaged in its cultivation for eight years, when he returned home, but in 1880 again took up his residence on his beautiful estate, where he is engaged in mixed husbandry. Ile is also the proprietor of a farm in Providenee Township, which is under a good state of cultiva- tion and is occupied by tenants.
Mr. Esbenshade has always manifested a deep in- terest in the welfare of this community, and he has been Director and Treasurer of the Northern Market House in Lancaster for some time, and is also stockholder in the Lancaster and Ephrata Company. At all times and in all places he has shown himself to be a loyal citizen, and is well re- garded by his fellow-townsmen.
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A LBERT SMITHI is a very praetieal and progressive farmer of Providence Town- ship, Laneaster County, and in addi- tion to operating his farm he has for a quarter of a century been engaged in selling farm machin- ery and implements, and has made considerable money from sales of phosphates and fertilizers. He is one of the native sons of this county, within whose limits his entire life has been spent. John Smith. our subjeet's paternal grandfather, was also a farmer in Strasburg Township. Ile married a Miss Carpenter and had a family comprising four sons and two daughters, namely: John, Gable, Abraham; George F., the father of our subjeet; Susan, who became the wife of Isaae Hull, and Sal- lie, who married Henry Kendig. George Smith was born in Strasburg Township, and in his early
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business career kept a hotel, to which he added farming in his native township, and devoted his energies to carrying on his farm up to the time of his death. lle was politically a Whig, but was never an otlice seeker. lle married Miss Mary Winters, the daughter of Christopher and Eliza- beth Winters ( this name was formerly Winter- himer), and of their union four children were born: Henry W., John C., George W. and Albert E. The father of this family passed from this life in 1830, while still in the prime of manhood, as he was only forty-five years old at the time of his demise.
Albert Smith, of whom this is a brief life his- tory, was born at MeCall's Ferry, in Martic Town- ship, of this county, July 24, 1818. Ilis early education was obtained in the old-fashioned sub- scription schools of Smithville, Providence Town- ship, where he was a student until he had reached his seventeenth year. Then being desirous of mak- ing his own livelihood he secured a position as a clerk in a mercantile business in Smithville, and was employed in that capacity for nearly two years. Returning then to the business with which he was most thoroughly conversant from expe- rience, he began farming in Providence Township. For a period of twenty-two years he carried on a farm in Martie Township, and later became the owner of a place in the township of Providence. Ilis present farm comprises about one hundred and seventy-five acres, and upon the homestead there are good improvements in the shape of fences, barns and outbuildings. The home of the family is pleasant and commodious and everything about the place is kept in a neat and business-like man- ner. For years Mr. Smith has sold the main part of the farm machinery used in this portion of the country, and derives a good income from that venture as well as from his sales of phosphates to his neighbors.
In his early manhood, Mr. Smith was a member of the Masonic order, being alliliated with Lodge No. 157, of Drumore Center. Hle holds member- ship with the German Reformed Church, and is an active worker in the same, giving liberally of his means to its support. In politics he deposits his vote for Democratie nominees, and though he has
had many opportunities to hold official positions has uniformly declined the honor, as he has al- ways been without desire to act in a public capac- ity.
In 1856 Mr. Smith was married to Susan Ey- man, a native of Providence Township, Lancaster County, and they have had five daughters born to them, the eldest of whom, Mary, is deceased, and the others are; Linda, Emma, Laura and Ella.
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F LIPHALET ORAM LYTE, Ph. D., A. M., of Millersville, has been eminently success- ful as an educator for a period extending over a-quarter of a century, and is very popular throughout the state as an institute instructor. In 1887 he was elected Principal of the State Normal School of this place, and has devoted himself to the improvement of all its departments and to still further elevating the standard of the institu- tion, which has long borne a high reputation. Dr. Lyte has almost grown up with the Normal, hav- ing been a student and teacher in it since his boy- hood, with few interruptions, and is therefore more than ordinarily interested in its progress.
The birth of our subject occurred in Bird in Hand, Pa., June 29, 1842, and his early years were passed in assisting his father to carry on his nurs- ery and garden, and during the winter he attended the public schools. It was while he was preparing for college that the War of the Rebellion came on, when he offered his services in the defense of the Flag, and for three years was faithful and efficient. At the battle of Chancellorsville, he received a wound, from the effects of which he has never en- tirely recovered. He went out in a regiment of infantry as a private soldier, but soon won pro- motion and held a commission is a battery of light artillery. In a number of great battles fought by the Army of the Potomac, he was actively inter- ested, and belonged to that division of the service until the close of the war. Returning to his home
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Dr. Lyte continued his studies and taught in the district schools of his native county for two years, subsequently entering the Pennsylvania State Nor- mal School of Millersville, from which he was grad- uated in 1868, and later completed the scientific course. Ile was at once elected a member of the faculty as Professor of rhetorie and bookkeeping. and later, for many years filled the chair of peda- gogy and English grammar. The Franklin and Marshall College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts in 1878, and also that of Doctor of Philosophy in 1887. The same year he entered upon his duties as Principal of the Normal School, in which he had successfully taught from the time of his graduation. The number of students en- rolled continues to be greater year by year and largely in excess of any similar institution in the state. At the same time the course of study has been extended and the school has been made more distinctively a teachers' institute than ever before. Of late a gymnasium, library building. one for physical science and mechanical arts and various other structures have been erected which will add greatly to the efficiency of the school.
The special studies and interests of Dr. Lyte have led him along the branches of language, phil- osophy and pedagogies, and he is the author of a series of text-books on language, one on book- keeping and several on music. On educational and literary subjects the Doctor is a popular lec- turer, being the possessor of well matured and ad- vanced ideas on all topies connected with public education as well. In addition to his duties as Principal, he fills the chair of psychology and logic. In 1891 he was made President of the Pennsylvania Teachers' Association and is a life member of the National Educational Association. For a number of years he has served as a Director of the National Association and is Vice-President of the Council of Education connected with that body. He is also a member of the American Acad- emy of Political Science.
Fraternally Dr. Lyte is a Mason of the Thirty- third degree, that distinction having been con- ferred upon him in 1885. He also belongs to the Loyal Legion, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Society of the Sons of the Revolution.
Dr. Lyte has many practical plans for the further development of the Normal and hopes to still keep increasing its renown as an educational center. Ile has a genuine love for the institution with which he has been so long connected, and for that rea- son has continually declined to consider the ac- ceptance of positions which might be esteemed more important and which were certainly more de- sirable from a financial point of view.
In March, 1872, occurred the marriage of Dr. Lyte and Mary, daughter of Dr. Isaiah Mc Junkin, of Philadelphia. Two children have been born of this union, Louis and Gilbert. Dr. Lyte and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church and have many sincere and devoted friends in all cir- cles of their acquaintance. In manner the Doctor is very affable and courteous, and by his students, though firm and an excellent disciplinarian, is he- loved and respected.
GALTER S. BARE, a successful business man of the city of Lancaster, is just- ly entitled to space in this connec- tion. Ile is a packer and dealer in leaf tobacco. Born in Bareville, Pa., on the 3d of October, 1857, he is a son of the late Dr. A. S. and Eliza (Ann) Bare. The years of his boyhood were spent in Cincinnati, Ohio, to which place he returned in 1872, residing in the family of his uncle, Martin Bare, a prosperous merchant of that city. There he received an excellent education.
In 1880 Mr. Bare became superintendent of the large edged tool works at Hamilton, Ohio. The bns- iness of this concern rapidly increased, the prod- ucts finding a large sale in the west and south. In 1887 he came to Lancaster and engaged in the tobacco business, becoming a partner in the firm of Jacob Wolf & Co., and remaining in that connec- tion until the firm was dissolved in 1889. He then established himself in business at No. 34 East Grant Street, where he still carries on trade in all grades of domestic and imported tobaccos. By careful atten-
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tion to business, and by energy and square dealing, he has built up a very large trade.
At Brownsville, Fayette County, Pa., December 12, 1888, Mr. Bare was united in marriage with -
Miss Mary, daughter of J. Nelson Snowdon, who carried on a large business as a boat builder at Pittsburg and Brownsville. Politically, Mr. Bare is astanch Republican. His religious connections are with St. James' Episcopal Church. He is re- garded as one of Lancaster's most popular and suc- cessful business men, both he and his estimable wife having the respect of all who know them.
A DOLPHUS S. VILLEE. The subject of this sketch is well known in Lancaster as one of the overseers in the Farnum Cotton Mills. Our subject's grandfather was once Gov- ernor of Paris, at a time when the name was spelled de Ville. His son, Herman W., who was born in Paris in 1789, was a graduate of the military school and was a prominent attorney, well known in the history of France. Ile joined the army in 1805, and was at the battle of Austerlitz, where Napoleon won one of his greatest victories, some relies of which our subject has now in his posses- sion. Ile also has a pair of solid silver spurs used by his father at the battle of Waterloo, also his sword. Ile followed the Eagles of the Empire into Spain and Portugal, being connected with the artillery as Captain, in the conflict of 1812 against Russia, and was at the burning of Moscow. In 1814, after Napoleon had been sent as an exile to Elba, he took the oath of allegiance to the new king, Louis XVIII. After Napoleon was sent to St. Helena, Villee, with others, was forced to leave France. In 1815 he went to England and from there he went to the West Indies. In 1820 he came to America, bringing with him 835,000 and landing at Phila- delphia. From there he went to Reading, where
he engaged in the printing and publishing busi- ness, including French, English and German pub- lications. Subsequently he started a newspaper at Lancaster and opened a large book store. He was a friend of President James Buchanan. Af- ter losing all of his property by going on other people's bonds, he removed to Lewisburg, where he kept a tavern, and from there moved to Mil- ton, but after a short sojourn in that place we find him conducting a hotel in Sunbury, Nor- thumberland County. Later he lived in another part of the county, where he taught school, and died in 1842. Ile established the Postoffice at Harders Church, but his commission as Postmaster came after his death. In politics he was a Demo- crat and was noted as a campaign speaker. Ile spoke French, German, Italian and Spanish flu- ently. He belonged to the German Reformed Church.
Our subject's mother, Matilda Regina (Strein) Villee, was married October 26, 1828; she was a na- tive of Lancaster, and the daughter of John Jacob Strein, who was born in Germany, and settled in Lehigh County, Pa. He engaged at teaching, but in 1805 located in Lancaster, the old residence be- ing on South Duke Street. Ile engaged as organ- ist and teacher in Trinity Lutheran Church for a period of about thirty years. He died at Lancas- ter aged seventy-seven years. The mother also died there aged sixty-seven years. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Villee consisted of six children, five of whom reached their majority, and three are still living: Sarah, Mrs. Samuel Greiner, of Lancas- ter; Mary B., the widow of George W. Brown, of Lancaster; Adolphus S., the subject of this sketch; Herman, who was in the Fiftieth Pennsylvania In- fantry, and is now deceased; and John Henry, a salesman in Philadelphia, who went to California in 1856 by the way of Panama. Ile traveled through Oregon and Washiington and went to New Mexico, but has not been heard from since 1861.
The subject of this sketch, the third child in order of birth, was born in Lancaster on the 24th of May, 1832, but was reared in Northum- berland County until past sixteen years of age. He there attended the schools common to that day and age, but at that time his father died and he
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was compelled to work on a farm, going to school twenty-four days each winter for three winters. When fifteen years of age he began school teach- ing in his home district. He also clerked in a Postoffice for a time. In 1848 he again went to work on a farm, continuing until he came to Lan- caster, and in March, 1849, commenced working in cotton mill No. 1 to learn the weaving trade. the wages at that time for an apprentice being fifty cents per day. He continued in this mill un- til 1850, when he was engaged in cotton mill No. 2, where he was assistant foreman. April 7, 1865, he was promoted to be overseer of the weaving de- partment. It should be stated in this connection that during the first year of the Civil War he went into the service as wagon master of a train under General Banks. in the Shenandoah Valley. and remained until February, 1862, when his train was broken up and transferred. After he was re- tired. he returned to his home, believing the war to be nearly over, but in 1863, being impressed with the thought that it was his duty to help sup- press the Rebellion, he volunteered in the Fiftieth Pennsylvania Infantry as a member of Company I. After the battle of Gettysburg. he did guard duty about ten weeks and was mustered out the last of August, 1863. After his return he again entered the cotton mill with which he has since been connected. He is Secretary of the People's Building & Loan Association, helping to organize that institution, and has been one of its directors from its start. It now has a capital of $218,000.
Our subject was married at York, on the 11th of April, 1852, to Miss Julia A. T. Ilammond, a native of Prince George's County, Md. She was the daughter of George llammond. who was born in Massachusetts, and died in Grafton, W. Va. Our subject's wife died December 3, 1889, in her fifty-ninth year; she was a devout member of the Lutheran Church. Eight of their eleven chil- dren grew to manhood and womanhood: Herman W., a machinist; Julia A. M., Mrs. Hutchinson, of Lancaster; Charles A. D .. who is the assistant fore- man under our subject: George Edwin. who died when an infant; Henry Locher. who died at the age of thirty-two years, at Congers, N. Y., June 10, 1893, and was in the employ of the "Review
of Reviews;" Mary Elizabeth, the widow of Will- iam A. Tobias, who resides with our subject: Edgar Lincoln, who died at the age of five years: Sarah Katie, who died aged six years and six months; Emma Harriet, a graduate of the high school, liv- ing at home; Bertha Green wold, now Mrs. John A. Sprenger, of Lancaster; and John Walter 1., musi- cian and piano tuner.
Mr. Villee is an honored member of Lodge No. 88, K. of P .; he was a charter member of the lodge, and was its first Secretary. He was Distriet Deputy for several years. Ile belongs to the Can- as-sa-te-go Tribe of Red Men, and is Past Sachem. He is also a member of the Artisans' Order of Mutual Protection, and of Admiral Reynolds Post No. 405. G. A. R. Both he and his estimable fam- ily are identified with Trinity Lutheran Church, and in politics he has been a Republican ever since the days of John C. Fremont.
OIIN J. JEFFRIES, representing Cullman Bros .. of New York, in their tobacco trade. was born in Lancaster. August 18, 1851. His fatlier, Levi Jeffries, was born in the same county. Ilis grandfather, John J. Jeffries, was born in Chester County. He was a mason by trade. In 1816 he located at Maytown. and died at the age of ninety-one years, in 1885. Politic- ally he was a Democrat, and voted for James Monroe. He was of Scotch-lrish descent, and be- longed to the Reformed Church. The great-grand- father came from Scotland to Chester County. The father of our subject was a stone mason by trade, and went west when a young man, but later returned to Lancaster and engaged in laying brick. continuing in the same for many years. He met with an accident at Reading by falling down in- side of a smokestack, forty-five feet high, breaking both of his legs. Ile died at Lancaster, February 22. 1885, aged sixty years. The mother, Cather- , ine Shindel, also a native of Lancaster, and the
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daughter of Peter Shindel, who was a cigar man- ufacturer, still lives in Lancaster, her age being seventy-one years. The family are members of the Lutheran Church.
Our subjeet, the only child, was reared in Lan- caster, and there had the advantage of good schools. Ile learned the trade under his father, working with him from 1866 to 1882. lle was in company with his father several years prior to the latter's death. Having had experience in packing tobacco, in 1883 he was employed as the repre- sentative of Cullman Bros., with whom he has been associated ever since.
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