USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; genealogy-family history-biography; containing historical sketches of old families and of representative and prominent citizens, past and present, Volume I > Part 75
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On April 4, 1865, Mr. Hoepstine married Annetta Ebbert, a native of Schuylkill county, Pa., and she died Aug. 3, 1906, in Pottsville. We have the following record of the nine children born to them: William died young; Ida died in infancy ; James W., Jr., is next in the family ; Charles, now a resident of Philadelphia, married Esther Luckenbille, of Cressona, Schuylkill county (he was a sergeant in Company H, 8th Regiment, N. G. P.) ; Louis, who died in April, 1907, married Hattie Lilley and (second) Rosie Cantwell (he was a sergeant in Company H, 8th Pennsylvania Regiment, during the Spanish-Amer- ican war) ; Jacob, who lives at Pottsville, married Katie Heisler (he was a private in Company H, 8th Pennsylvania Volunteers) ; John died young ; Lucy is at home ; Edward F. married Helen Stock, and they reside at Pottsville (he was a sergeant in Company H, 8th N. G. P.).
Isaac Ebbert, father of Mrs. James W. Hoepstine, Sr., was born at Mount Hope, Schuylkill Co., Pa., son of Jacob Ebbert. The father came to this coun- try from Germany and settled at what is now the "Seven Stars" hotel, near
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Pottsville, where he continued to reside until his death. He was a boatman on the canal, became a large landowner, and was one of the substantial citizens of the day in that locality. He married Madeline Moyer, and they had children as follows: Abraham, Jacob, Charles, Caroline, Elizabeth, Annetta, Louisa, Isaac and Sallie.
Isaac Ebbert, son of Jacob Ebbert, became a boatman on the canal and in that capacity and as a coal operator was a well known business man of this part of Schuylkill county. He operated what was known as the West Salem colliery in partnership with a Mr. Walbridge, under the firm style of Ebbert & Walbridge, and was so engaged for several years. Later he worked small collieries and he lived retired for several years before his death, which occurred at Pottsville. He married Lucy St. Clair, daughter of Jacob and Eva (Hoebolf) St. Clair, and she also died at Pottsville. They were the parents of six children, namely : Annetta, Mrs. James W. Hoepstine, Sr .; Mary, who died unmarried ; Helen, Mrs. Z. T. Rhoads, deceased; Harriet, unmarried ; Honora, deceased, who was the wife of Jacob Lehr ; and Lucy, unmarried.
James W. Hoepstine, Jr., was born at Pottsville March 26, 1870, and received his education in the public schools there. When a youth he commenced work for the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company, at Pottsville, remaining with that concern for twenty-one years, until April 19, 1907, when he accepted the position of agent for the Humane Hose Company at Pottsville. Mr. Hoepstine joined Humane Hose Company twenty years ago, and from May, 1904, to May, 1905, was chief of the Pottsville fire department, filling that office with the efficiency which has come to be expected of him. On Jan. I, 1914, he was appointed chief of police at Pottsville, a position he is now filling. He is a competent and conscientious officer and is making a creditable record in his present office, as he has in every other position of trust, to which his fellow citizens have called him.
Like his brothers Mr. Hoepstine was in the service of his country during the Spanish-American war. On Feb. 5, 1890, he enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard, was promoted to corporal in May, 1891, and on May 9, 1898, was elected second lieutenant of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, to serve in the Spanish-American war. He was mustered out with that rank March 7, 1899, and upon his return home was elected first lieutenant of the National Guard. On Oct. 18, 1902, he was elected captain of Company H, 8th Regiment, N. G. P., which connection he severed in October, 1913. He is a Republican in political sentiment, and belongs to Pottsville Aerie, No. 134, Fraternal Order of Eagles.
On May 18, 1894, Mr. Hoepstine married Emma Creary, daughter of John Creary, of Pottsville. They have one daughter, Ethel.
ELMER D. GRIEFF, of Cressona, is now one of the leading general merchants of that borough, carrying on the business established over twenty- five years ago by his father, William Albert Grieff, who has lived retired at Cressona since his son succeeded him.
William Grieff, great-grandfather of Elmer D. Grieff, lived to the age of ninety-four years, and is buried at Orwigsburg. He was a farmer of that local- ity for many years, and a prominent man of his generation. He served one term as steward of the Schuylkill County Home. By his marriage to Catherine Zerbe he had children as follows: William, who died when forty years old : Daniel; Mrs. Henry Krebs ; Mrs. Bernert Yeager ; Mrs. John Ege ; Mrs. Daniel
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Hlillegas; Louisa, who married Jeremiah Yerger, who after her death married her sister Sarah ; and Mary and Phoebe, who died young.
Daniel Grieff was born at Orwigsburg and is buried there; he died at the age of forty-five years. By trade he was a carpenter. He married Maria Krebs, daughter of Jacob Krebs, and children as follows were born to them: George ; Charles ; William A .; Mary, who married L. F. Kimmel, now a retired farmer, living at Orwigsburg; Elizabeth, who married Newton Recd; and Emma, who married Uriah Good.
William A. Grieff was reared upon the parental farm at Orwigsburg, and obtained his education in the local public schools. When a young man he was engaged as a stage driver for two and a half years, on the route between Orwigsburg and Landingville. His next occupation was as clerk in the general store of B. E. Drumheller, at Landingville, with whom he remained two and a half years. At the end of that time he entered the employ of Henry Deibert, for whom he worked at boatbuilding for a period of ten years, having learned the trade in the employ of the Schuylkill Navigation Company. Later he followed coal mining for about three and a half years. Coming to Cressona he resumed clerking, being so employed in the general store of A. F. Deibert for nine years, until he engaged in business for himself, in October, 1889, as a green grocer and confectioner at Cressona. He established a profitable trade, and continued the business successfully until 1912, when he sold it to his son Elmer, who has since conducted the store, the father living retired. For the last twenty years Mr. Grieff has been treasurer of Grace U. B. Church at Cressona, which he helped to organize, and he is also president of the Bible class. He has served as town clerk.
Mr. Grieff married Susan Elizabeth Deibert, who was born Feb. 22, 1850, daughter of William Deibert, a boatbuilder of Landingville, Pa., and died March 9, 1889. She is buried in the Cressona cemetery. For his second wife Mr. Grieff married Mrs. Emma (Bretz) Fenstemacher, widow of Moses Fenstemacher. All his children are by the first union, viz. : Elmer D. is men- tioned below; Walter Franklin, a railroad conductor, married Carrie Bittle, and they reside in Cressona ; Annie Louisa married Harry Loop, and resides in Philadelphia, Pa .; Mamie married William A. Fessler, and they reside in Cressona ; Henrietta Louisa married Lynn F. Fessler, of Cressona; Charles is employed as yardmaster at Rutherford, Pa .; four children died young- Robert S., born in 1880, died in 1885; Carrie E., born in 1883, died in 1887; Roy A., born in 1885, died in 1888; a son, born in 1887, died the same year. In politics Mr. Grieff was a Democrat, but is now a Progressive.
Elmer Daniel Grieff was born Oct. 20, 1876, at Landingville, Schuylkill county, received his education in the schools of Cressona, and then entered the employ of his father, as driver of the delivery team. He continued to assist his father as long as the latter remained in business, buying him out in March, 1912. He is now one of the leading merchants in the borough, carrying a large general stock. He is prominently associated with borough affairs, being at present a member and secretary of the school board, to which he was elected in 1911, for a six-year term. He also served in the town council, of which he was secretary for four years. In political sentiment he is a Progressive. He is a leading member of Grace United Brethren Church, to which he has belonged for twenty-two years: is organist for the church and the Christian Endeavor Society ; and is equally active in the Sunday school, being assistant organist, chorister, and teacher of a class of boys. He is secretary of the
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Quarterly Conference of the United Brethren Church of Eastern Pennsyl- vania. Mr. Grieff was a charter member of Cressona Council, No. 812, Inde- pendent Order of Americans, and at one time served as secretary of that organization.
Mr. Grieff married Annie Louisa Wagner, who was born Nov. 2, 1882, and they have two children: Margarite Viole, born Sept. 19, 1901 ; and Lamar Joseph, born Aug. 4, 19II.
Gottlieb Wagner, Mrs. Grieff's father, was the son of a boatbuilder, who had the following children: Martin, George, Frederick, Henry, Michael, Gott- lieb, Eva and Mrs. Bealer. Gottlieb Wagner was born in Germany, and emi- grated to this country with his parents when he was eight years old. The family settled at Glenworth, Schuylkill Co., Pa., where he received his educa- tion in the district schools. Then he became a boatbuilder for the Schuylkill Navigation Company, and followed that occupation for a number of years. Later he entered the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Com- pany, and was promoted from time to time until he became a locomotive engi- neer, continuing with this company until he was sixty years of age. Losing his position as engineer through no fault of his own, he worked at the Diston Horn factory, located then on Front street, and which later moved to Williams- port. After running their stationary engine for quite a few years he worked at the pits' puddling engines. When the Gordon Plane closed down he was thrown out of employment for about a year, and was then appointed watch- man at the Beck shirt factory in Cressona, holding that position until his death, March 15, 1901, at the age of sixty-four years. Mr. Wagner owned and operated a small farm in the borough. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted from Cressona and served nine months, as a member of the 132d Pennsylvania Volunteers, under Capt. Michael Whitmoyer and Charles Albright.
Mr. Wagner married Lydia Ann Kutz, who was born Sept. 4, 1857, daugh- ter of Joseph Kutz, a native of Friedensburg, Schuylkill county. Children as follows were born to them: Wesley Charles, who married Sallie Kinsyl, resides in Erie, Pa .; David Gottlieb married Carrie Yeik, and they reside in Cressona, Pa .; Mamie Matilda is the wife of Howard Schaadt, and resides at Allentown; Savilla Augusta, also of Allentown, is married to Milton Schaadt; Frederick William married Emma Clemmer, and they reside at Allentown; Kate is deceased ; Annie Louisa is Mrs. Grieff ; Lewis Albert married Vena Henninger and after her death Eva Heimbach; Effie May married Charles Greenawald, and they reside at Allentown.
Gottlieb Wagner was a Republican in politics. He was one of the founders of the United Brethren Church of Cressona, and was active in its affairs. He and his wife, who died Sept. 2, 1895, are buried in the Cressona cemetery.
CHARLES G. WAGNER, of Schuylkill Haven, a progressive business man and prominent member of the various fraternal bodies of the borough, was born on the old Dibert farm in the vicinity Nov. 30, 1872, son of Jared Wagner. The father, a native of Shartlesville, Berks Co., Pa., followed farm- ing in that county (at Strausstown) and in Schuylkill county until his retire- ment. He now lives at Auburn, Schuylkill county. To his marriage with Henrietta Strauss, daughter of Solomon Strauss, were born twelve children, nine of whom survive at this writing: William, Frank, Emma, Alice, Sallie, Charles G., Carrie, James and Katie.
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Charles G. Wagner was reared upon the farm and educated in the neigh- borhood public schools. He has been connected with the undertaking business ever since he commenced work, at the age of fourteen years entering the employ of Eli Zeigenfous, at Schuylkill Haven, and remaining with him about two years. His next position was with Jacob Weber, at Pottsville, for whom he worked six years, after which he spent about the same length of time with Levi Hummel. By this time he felt he had experience enough to cnable him to do business successfully on his own account, and he joined Daniel Sharadin in a partnership, which lasted four years, having an establishment at Schuylkill Haven. On June 6, 1905, Mr. Wagner began the independent business he has since carried on so successfully in that borough. He has made a point of keeping in touch with the advancements introduced from time to time in his line, sparing neither pains nor expense to give his patrons the benefit of modern methods and conveniences, and the thoughtful attention bestowed on all the details of his work would be sufficient to account for the general demand for his services. His equipment includes the most approved appliances known to the trade, and handsome equipages, including two hearses, one black and one white. He has an able associate in his wife, who has proved very capable in looking after many things relating to the efficient conduct of the business.
Mr. Wagner married Lillie Rebecca Boger, daughter of Amos and Sarah (Kantner) Boger, and they have become the parents of nine children: Flora L., Bertha M., Lillie R., Earle G., Dorothy A. H., Grace E., Annie L., Alma and Ruth M., the last named deceased. They reside on Canal street.
Mr. Wagner is especially interested in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a past grand of the Schuylkill Haven lodge and a member of the degree team for the last five years, during which period he has never missed a meeting. He also belongs to the Royal Arcanum, Improved Order of Red Men and Owls. In political sentiment he is a Republican, but he takes little part in party affairs beyond casting his ballot. He holds membership in the Reformed Church.
JOHN S. STAUDT, late of Pottsville, was in the hotel business practically throughout the period of his residence in Schuylkill county, for a number of years as owner and proprietor of the "Eagle Hotel." He was a native of Berks county, Pa., where the family is one of old standing.
Staudt (Stoudt, Stout) is one of the early Palatinate names. Members of the family figured prominently in some of the Crusades. The family spread northward into Holland, where some of the family attained noble rank. During the persecution of Bloody Alba some members of the family fled to England, one of them, Richard by name, enlisting in the English navy. Upon one of his visits to New Amsterdam he met Penelope Van Princis, who later became his wife, and they settled in Middletown, N. J., prior to 1688, becoming the progenitors of a large and honorable family. The Staudts of Pennsylvania came directly from the Palatinate and seem to be divided into two groups, that of Berks and that of Bucks county. Tracing back the ancestors of the well known family of Berks county, Pa., it is said that from the English family of the name thirteen brothers came to Philadelphia, in 1754, one of them eventually settling in Berks county, becoming the founder of the Staudts of that section. However, this does not agree entirely with the other accounts.
On Aug. 30, 1737, there landed at Philadelphia John Jacob, Johannes and Hans Adam Staudt, and on Sept. 24th of the same year Peter Staudt. These
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four, it is claimed, were brothers. The following year arrived Peter and Daniel; in 1741 another Peter arrived; and in 1744 George Wilhelm joined the group. It is believed that all the above named were related. John Jacob settled in what is now Perkasie, and was the father of the following children : Abraham, Henry K., Jacob, Hannah, Magdalena, Annie Margaret. Abraham was a man of prominence in his day, serving during the Revolution as a mem- ber of the Committee of Safety, also of the Committee of Observation, mem- ber of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and of the Convention of 1789-90. The Stouts of Lehigh and Northampton counties are descendants of the Bucks group.
At the head of the Berks group stand John Michael Staudt, who took the oath of allegiance at Philadelphia Sept. 18, 1733. Tradition says that his father died at sea, and that the headship of the family fell upon him, though he was only twenty-one years of age. How large the family was we do not know, but we know that Mathias, aged eight, and Johannes, probably still younger, were in the group, and we have reason to think that the family was even larger.
On Oct. 25, 1737, there was surveyed for John Michael Staudt a tract of land in Bern township, on the west bank of the Schuylkill river, "opposite the flat meadows," of 180 acres. Later the estate was doubled. The place is known as Stoudts Ferry. Johannes was probably never married. Mathias married Anna Margaret Schrader, who was born Oct. 13, 1728, and died May 22, 1797. He was born in 1725 and died in 1795. They resided in Bern town- ship and raised the following children: John, Mathias, Abraham, Catherine Maria (married Thomas Umbenhauer) and Elizabeth. Of these, Abraham, born Jan. 25, 1757, died Oct. 9, 1824: to him and his wife, Maria Elizabeth (Brown), born June 22, 1756, died Aug. 15, 1824, were born the following children : Mathias, John, Jacob, Catherine, Magdalena, Anna Maria and Sussanna. Johannes, Mathias and John Michael were members of the Bern Church, where their ashes rest in peace.
John Michael Staudt was born in 1712 and died May 13, 1776. To him and his wife Barbara were born the following children: (1) Johannes (1737- Oct. 13, 1801) married Maria Catherine Kerschner (1751-Dec. 21, 1826) and lived on a farm in Maiden-creek township. Their union was blessed with the following children: George, Catherine (married to Henry Body), Barbara (married to George Snyder), Elizabeth (married to Daniel Maurer), Jacob, John, Daniel and Samuel. (2) Jacob (1735-1802) moved in 1790 from Bern township to Richmond township, having bought the farm now owned by Edwin Kutz. To him and his wife Margaret were born the following children: John, Jacob, Adam, John Henry, Daniel, Barbara (married to John Schucker), Mary (married to Michael Knittle), Catherine (who died unmarried), and Elizabeth (who married William Ebling). (3) Michael ( 1742-1807) married Maria Elizabeth Brown (1759-1820) and had four sons and five daughters. He received the old homestead. (4) George Wilhelm (1748-1820) lived in Maiden-creek township, and became the progenitor of a large posterity. He married Christina Weidenhammer (1752-1817), a daughter of Johannes ( 1726- 1804) and Margereth (Ehteigie) (born in Kurpfalz in 1727-died in 1812), and their children were: George, Margaret (married to Daniel Gross), Magdalina (married to John Mohn), Daniel, Maria (married to Daniel Mertz), Adam, Jacob, Catherine (married to Daniel Mickly). George Wilhelm Staudt and his brother Jacob lie buried in the Kutztown Union cemetery. (5) John
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George and his wife Anna Margareta moved to Tulpchocken township. (6) Jost and his wife Mary Elizabeth lived in Bern township. To them were born the following children: Jacob, Margretha, Catherine and Magdalina. (7) Anna Barbara married Baltzer Leach, of Bern township, and this union was blessed with seven children. (8) Catherine married Christopher Leach and resided in Heidelberg township. (9) Apolonia, who married Daniel Aurandt, moved to Buffalo Valley. (10) Catherine Elizabeth married Peter Wise and resided in Bern township.
Daniel, son of Jacob (1735-1802), was a distiller by trade. His declining years were spent in the vicinity of Kutztown, where he died in 1853; he was buried in Hottenstein's private cemetery. He married a Miss Bowman. and this union was blessed with the following children: Adam moved to Logans- port, Ind., where he died; George married Hannah Borrel and reared a family of nine children; Reuben married Hannah Koch; Frank died unmarried ; Margaretha married Jacob Saul, of Molltown ; Polly and Hannah died unmar- ried; Maria married Joseph Hampshire and lived at Bowers Station; Hettie Ester died young ; Isaac served in the Mexican war, and soon after his return left again for the Western country.
John Staudt, grandfather of John S. Staudt, lived and died in Upper Bern township, Berks county. He followed farming. His children were: Michael; Joel; Joseph; David; Lavina, who married Albert Sauser ; Rosilla, who died unmarried ; Mrs. Bagenstose ; Mrs. Potteiger ; and Mrs. Bender.
David Staudt, son of John, above, was born at the old homestead and like his father followed farming, spending all his life in Upper Bern township. He lived to be over sixty years old. By his marriage to Magdalena Seifert he had three children : Daniel, who lived on the old homestead in Berks county, and died May 18, 1915; Harriet, wife of J. K. Balthauser, living in Upper Tulpehocken township, Berks county ; and John S.
John S. Staudt was born June 7, 1851, in Upper Bern township, Berks county, where his boyhood was passed in attendance at the public schools and assisting with the work on the home farm. He took a higher course of study in the Keystone State Normal School, at Kutztown, Berks county. In 1887 Mr. Staudt came to Schuylkill Haven, this county, where he was in the hotel business about two years, conducting the "Columbia Hotel." From 1890 to 1896 he was at Friedensburg, Schuylkill county, in the same line, and after that experience withdrew from business for a year, during which time he lived at Schuylkill Haven. He then took charge as proprietor of the "Eagle Hotel" at Pottsville, leasing the property until the year 1904, when he bought it from the Gressel estate. During his connection with the hotel it was grad- ually enlarged, as the business required, until there are now seventy rooms, and Mr. Staudt built up a good patronage, being a systematic business man and an excellent host. His guests enjoyed up-to-date service in every way. The "Eagle Hotel" is located at No. 223 North Centre street, corner of Minersville street. He carried it on until his death, which occurred April 18, 1915, after a brief illness, and it is still being conducted by the family.
Mr. Staudt married, when a young man of twenty, Matilda Miller, daugh- ter of George Miller, of Upper Bern township, Berks Co., Pa., and ten children were born to their union: Rosa, deceased : Magdalena ; Catherine, who mar- ried George Snyder: Calvin; Lillian, who married Alexander Robertson;
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Edwin ; John; Howard; Alma; and George, who died young. There are ten grandchildren.
Mr. Staudt was a member of the Shartlesville Reformed Church, and socially belonged to the I. O. O. F., which he joined at Strausstown, and to the P. O. S. of A. Camp at Friedensburg. In Pottsville he held the respect of all who knew him.
BERT E. DRUMHELLER is associated with one of the recently estab- lished industries at Orwigsburg, the Orwigsburg Shoe Company, and though one of the younger business men of the borough has every prospect of attain- ing a position among the most successful. His executive capacity has been recognized in his choice for the office of treasurer of the concern, and he deserves credit for doing his full share towards promoting its prosperity.
Mr. Drumheller is a native of Schuylkill county, born Oct. 16, 1883, at Landingville, and he belongs to a family founded in Pennsylvania before the Revolution. The early generations in this country lived in Berks and North- umberland counties. Members of the Drumheller family came to America in the early days of this Commonwealth, the Pennsylvania Archives (Vol. XVII, page 447) showing that J. Leonhart Drumheller arrived Oct. 26, 1754, on the brigantine "Mary and Sarah." That they were for a number of years settled in Berks county is shown by the Federal census report of 1790, which records the names of John and Nicholas Drumheller, of Earl township, that county ; John had one son above sixteen, three sons under sixteen and one daughter ; Nicholas had one son above sixteen, three sons under sixteen and three daugh- ters. Rev. C. R. Drumheller, of this stock, served as Lutheran pastor of the Stone Valley Union Church in Northumberland county, 1883-84; and of the Vera Cruz Union Church, in Dauphin county, 1883-84.
The name was well represented among the Colonial sympathizers during the Revolutionary war. In the Pennsylvania Archives (5th Series, Vol. IV) we find (page 318) that George Drumheller belonged to the Continental Line, serving as a private in the Northampton county militia during that war, and that George Drumheller later was a Revolutionary soldier from Northampton county (page 649) ; that Jacob Drumheller was a soldier in the Continental Line from Berks county (page 212) ; and that Jacob Drumheller was a private in Capt. John Reese's company (which formed a part of the 2d Pennsylvania Battalion), commissioned from Jan. 5, 1776, to Nov. 25, 1776.
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