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 II > Part 4
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Michael Seltzer, great-grandfather of Wesley Seltzer, served in the Revo- lutionary war, and was at Valley Forge. He was taken prisoner and con- fined with others in an old stone church, where he starved to death. His children were Abraham, John and Jacob.
Abraham Seltzer, son of Michael, was born in Berks county, Pa., and was an early settler in East Brunswick township, Schuylkill county, where he fol- lowed farming at Drehersville until his death, which occurred there. For a number of years he kept hotel at that point, besides following agricultural pursuits. He lived to the age of ninety-one years, and his wife, whose maiden name was Catherine Faust, is buried with him at the Red Church. They had the following family: Joseph, Elizabeth, Michael, Susan, Polly, Catherine, Rebecca and Nathan. One married Daniel Ebling; another Edw. Ebling; Michael married Mary Frey; Nathan married Catherine Albright; Joseph went West, where he died ; Mrs. Reuben Miller lived in the West.
Nathan Seltzer, son of Abraham, was born in December, 1827, in East Brunswick township, and died at the early age of thirty-three. He was a successful business man, following farming, and kept an inn at Drehersville for a time, also carrying on a general mercantile business at that point. He was a member of the Reformed Church, and is buried at the Red Church. Politically he was a Democrat. His wife, Catherine, was a daughter of Peter Albright, of West Brunswick township, and four children were born to this union : Elizabeth, Wesley A., Oscar and Mary, all deceased but Wesley. Mrs. Seltzer remarried, becoming the wife of John Walborn, but had no children by that union.
Wesley A. Seltzer was born Jan. 22, 1865, at Drehersville, East Brunswick township. Being only four years old when his father died he was reared by his grandfather, Peter Albright, meantime attending the public schools of the locality. He assisted his grandfather with the farm work until he reached his majority, and from that time farmed on shares, also conducting a lime quarry. He continued to carry on his agricultural work and quarrying for twenty-one years in all, and in 1894 removed to Orwigsburg, where he pur- chased the Jacob Hiest farm, a valuable tract of 135 acres, included within the borough limits. Under Mr. Seltzer's management during the twenty years and more of his ownership it has undergone steady improvement, and is up-to- date in every respect, having reached a fine state of cultivation. Mr. Seltzer has erected a house upon the land, which he rents. His time has always been given to business, and he is known as one of the most progressive agricul- turalists of his vicinity. He is a director of the South Schuylkill Farmers' Fire Insurance Company, which he has been serving as treasurer for some time. Politically he is a Republican, but has never taken any part in public affairs. His religious connection is with the Reformed Church.
In 1874 Mr. Seltzer married Joanna Hoy, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Faust) Hoy, and they are the parents of the following named children: Frank P., now engaged in farming in North Manheim township, this county ; Mary, who lives at home; Anna, who taught school for a time, now married and living in Orwigsburg; Catherine, wife of John Williams, living at Pine Grove Furnace, Cumberland county, Pa .; John W., living at Franklin Furnace, N. J .; George I., now in New York State; Edward, a student at State Col- lege ; and Albert, at home.
JOHN PFEIFFER, of Tower City, is one of the substantial business men of his section of Schuylkill county. His own success would be suffi-
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cient to justify his faith in the county as a field for investment, and he has been among the promoters and supporters of some of the most progressive enterprises set on foot within the last twenty years, taking a public-spirited pride in securing for his locality the benefits afforded by the various con- cerns in which he is interested. Mr. Pfeiffer is a native of Germany and a typical member of his race, thorough-going, self-reliant, persevering and in- dustrious. It is to these solid characteristics that his many friends in the valley ascribe the good fortune he now enjoys.
Mr. Pfeiffer was born in Germany Oct. 26, 1864, son of Daniel Pfeiffer, also a native of that country. He brought his family to America in 1882 and settled at Middleport, Schuylkill Co., Pa. In the old country he had been variously employed, and here he was engaged for a time in coal washing, at Brockton. Then he followed farming until his retirement. His death occurred at Middleport, where his wife, Elizabeth ( Pabst), also passed away, and they are both buried there. They had the following children: Jacob, John, Daniel, Frederick, Henry, Lewis, Charles, and Lena (who married George W. Miller).
John Pfeiffer received his education in the Fatherland, being eighteen years old when he accompanied the family to America. He had learned the trade of stone cutter, and after his arrival in Schuylkill county was em- ployed for ten years at the mines and on the railroad. By that time he felt justified in starting business on his own account, and he opened the general store at Tower City which he has conducted ever since, having one of the best managed establishments in the town. The trade has increased steadily, and Mr. Pfeiffer has given his patrons the benefit of his prosperity, im- proving his stock and facilities not only as the trade demands, but usually in advance of its needs. His merchandise is of reliable quality, the service is prompt and courteous, and no detail is neglected to insure satisfaction to all customers. Mr. Pfeiffer also owns the "Commercial Hotel," carrying a retail license, and he has considerable valuable real estate at Tower City and in Porter township. He was one of the organizers of the Consolidated Elec- tric Company which supplies light to New Philadelphia, Middleport, Cum- bola and Schuylkill township, and also to Blythe township, and whose plant was sold July 1, 1915, to the Eastern Pennsylvania Light, Heat & Power Com- pany. He was one of the first stockholders in the Tower City National Bank, organized in 1902, and has been a director since 1914. He also helped to organize the Electric Light Company at Tower City, which has since been sold. Mr. Pfeiffer is a director of the Williamstown Water Company and the Wiconisco Telephone Company. The only public office he has ever con- sented to fill is that of supervisor of Porter township.
Mr. Pfeiffer married Emma Ida Miller, daughter of Thomas Miller, and they have three children, Ella, Charles and John. He and his family belong to the Reformed Church. Socially he is a Mason, holding membership in Ashler Lodge, No. 570, F. & A. M., of Lykens, Pa., and he also belongs to the Moose lodge at that place; to Tower City Lodge, No. 755, I. O. O. F .; and to the Knights of the Golden Eagle.
WILLIAM FRANKLIN FUHRMAN, present burgess of the borough of Ringtown, has been actively engaged in business there for a number of years, following various lines. His principal interests now are in the line of carpentry, and the steady demand for his services bears indisputable testi- mony to his good workmanship and conscientious fulfillment of every obliga-
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tion. In his public duties he has been equally faithful, showing a sincere desire to promote the best interests of the town where his unselfish, progress- ive spirit is proving an influential element for good.
Mr. Fuhrman was born Jan. 30, 1861, in Union township, Schuylkill county, son of Lewis Fuhrman, also a native of Union township, who was occupied at farming and lumbering. During the Civil war Lewis Fuhrman enlisted at Ringtown, this county, for three years, served his full term, and received an honorable discharge at Harrisburg, Pa. He died in July, 1869, and is buried at the old White Church near Ringtown. In religion he was a Lutheran, in politics a Democrat. Mr. Fuhrman married Susanna Linden- muth, who was born in October, 1838, in Union township, where she received her education. Her father, John Lindenmuth, was a farmer in that town- ship, owning a tract of over one hundred acres, part of which he cleared; there was a great deal of valuable timber on his land. He belonged to the Lutheran Church, and was a Democrat on political questions. He and his wife Hannah ( Ponnebecker) are buried in a private graveyard in Union township. They were the parents of the following children: Elizabeth, wife of Frank Rhoades; Jacob, who married Catherine Ulshaffer; William, who was twice married, his second wife being Eliza Diliplane; Rachel, wife of Daniel Rhoades; Polly, wife of Daniel Zimmerman; Amanda, wife of Peter Fry ; and Susan, Mrs. Fuhrman.
Mrs. Susan Fuhrman, widow of Lewis Fuhrman, resides in Ringtown borough. Six children were born to them: Caroline, who lives in Allentown, Pa .; William F .; Amanda, wife of Samuel Miller, living at Black Hills, near McAdoo, Schuylkill county; Barbara, deceased; Hannah, deceased, who was the wife of George Titus, of Rush township, Schuylkill county ; and Henry, of Ringtown, Pennsylvania.
William F. Fuhrman attended the Horne and Lindner schoolhouses in Union township, but as he was only eight years old when his father died he began work when yet a boy, helping his mother. He was employed by neighboring farmers until twelve years old, when he went to work in the breaker of the colliery at Raven Run, this county, later doing inside tasks, firing and running engines, etc. He remained there until nearly thirty years old, when he entered the employ of Peter Dresher, as teamster in his lumber woods and as wood chopper, continuing with him two years. For four years afterwards he was in the hotel business at Ringtown on his own account, first as proprietor of the "Eagle Hotel" and later of another house. He also acquired manufacturing interests in the borough, being one of the stockhold- ers of the Ringtown Knitting Mills, which he operated for a couple of years, later selling out and renting the farm of Dr. H. D. Rentschler, in Ringtown, which he conducted for four years. After the death of his father-in-law, Samuel Dresher, he bought the latter's farm, but never operated that prop- erty, which he sold later to Elmer Dennison, the present owner. In 1905 Mr. Fuhrman bought the William Snyder farm in Union township, which he cultivated for one year, later selling the place to Jonathan Hetherington, who in turn sold it to the present owner, Benjamin Zimmerman. Mr. Fuhrman, however, retained eight building lots from the Snyder tract, and has disposed of six of them, still holding two. He also owns a seventy-foot ( front) lot in Ringtown upon which he has erected a fine double dwelling house, which he occupies. For a number of years past he has been devoting his energies principally to the carpenter's trade, and he has a large number of patrons in
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the borough and vicinity. From time to time Mr. Fuhrman has acquired other interests, having been one of the first directors of the First National Bank of Ringtown, in which capacity he is still serving; he attends the direct- ors' meetings regularly.
For some years Mr. Fuhrman has kept in close touch with local public affairs, having served as election inspector in Union township before Ring- town was incorporated as a borough, and he has earned a well merited repu- tation for reliable service in public trusts. In 1913 he was honored as the choice of the townspeople for the office of burgess, being the second incum- bent of that important position since the incorporation of the borough. His official acts have been such as to hold the allegiance of his original sup- porters and gain him many new friends. Mr. Fuhrman has also been active in other local interests, being a member of Ringtown Castle, No. 500, Knights of the Golden Eagle, and of the Ringtown Lutheran Church; many years ago he served as superintendent of the Sunday school held in Horne's school in Union township.
Mr. Fuhrman married Elizabeth Dresher, who was born Feb. 23, 1861, in Union township, where she received her education, remaining at home until her marriage. She is an earnest member of the Ringtown Lutheran Church and of its Ladies' Aid Society. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fuhrman : Pearl May, the daughter, born Oct. 17, 1887, received an ex- cellent education in the public schools, graduating from the Ringtown high school, taught school for three years in Union township, and is now the wife of Harry Rentschler, a farmer, of Ringtown; they have had two children, Elizabeth Alice (born Dec. 26, 1912, deceased) and Fuhrman Henry (born Nov. 24, 1913). Samuel Robert, son of Mr. and Mrs. William F. Fuhrman, born June 2, 1891, was educated in the local public schools and at the Blooms- burg (Pa.) State Normal School, attending the latter for one term; he was an employe of the Hooven Mercantile Company at Shenandoah at the time of his death, Aug. 6, 1913.
George Dresher, grandfather of Mrs. Fuhrman, was a native of Ger- many. Coming to America he settled in Black Creek township, Luzerne Co., Pa., where he farmed the rest of his life, and he is buried there with his second wife. He was a member of the Lutheran Church. He was twice married, and had five children by the first union: Samuel; Polly, Mrs. Henry Hetler; Katie, Mrs. Joseph Mostellor; Elizabeth, Mrs. Aaron Mostellor; and Lydia, Mrs. Paul Huntsinger. To the second marriage were born : George, John and Henry all went West; Stephen married Mary Etta Link; Susan married Charles Baer; Sallie married Jeremiah Spiegel.
Samuel Dresher, father of Mrs. Fuhrman, was born Sept. 25, 1815. in Mifflin township, Columbia Co., Pa., was reared and educated in that county, and became a prosperous farmer, owning three farms, one in Mifflin town- ship, Columbia county, and two in Union township, Schuylkill county. When he came to this county he settled on his large tract, which comprised 325 acres, then in the woods. He cleared a considerable portion of that property and carried on general farming for a number of years, but eventually gave up agriculture, renting out his farms, and for some time conducted the "Eagle Hotel" in Ringtown, owning the hotel property. When he withdrew from that business he rented the hotel and bought a dwelling in Ringtown where he spent the rest of his life in retirement. He died March 17, 1897, and his 325-acre farm was subsequently divided into three parts and sold; these
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parts are now owned by Harry Shenk, Frank Lebenburg and the Girard Estate, respectively. Mr. Dresher's other Union township farm is now owned by Elmer Dennison. Mr. Dresher was actively interested in local affairs, being a well known member of the Democratic party, tax collector of his township, and a prominent worker in the Lutheran Church of Ringtown. He is buried at the old White Church near Ringtown with his first wife, Elizabeth (Hetler), who was born in Mifflin township, Columbia county, and died at the age of thirty-six years, when her daughter Mrs. Fuhrman was an infant. Her father, Peter Hetler, was a farmer in Mifflin township, and he and his wife are buried at Mifflinville, Columbia county. He was a Demo- crat in politics. Mr. and Mrs. Hetler had two children, the other being a son Henry, who married Polly Dresher. By his first wife Mr. Dresher had the following children: Savina, Mahala, Mary Ann, Sydney Frances and Boyd (who married Emma Bitting, now a resident of Ringtown) are all deceased; Peter married Sallie Hetherington; George married Carolina Fry; Elizabeth is the wife of William F. Fuhrman. For his second wife Mr. Dresher married Anna Lindermuth, daughter of Michael and Nima (Miller) Lindermuth, and she survives him, being now ( 1915) about seventy-five years old. To this union were born children as follows: Henry married Lizzie Seltzer, and they make their home at Berwick, Pa .; Santharella married Wil- liam Long, and both are deceased; David, a resident of Ringtown, Pa., mar- ried Adeline Brown; Charles, of Girardville, this county, married Sallie Schap- pell; Anna is the wife of Irwin Seltzer, of Union township; Nima is the wife of Luther Stauffer, of Ringtown; Emma married Fred Jay, of Philadelphia, Pa .; Fannie married Charles Richards; Ida married George Barnhart, of Girardville, Pennsylvania.
H. J. HERBEIN, D. D. S., the subject of this sketch, was born in Bern township, Berks county, son of Dr. J. S. and Elizabeth A. R. (Winter) Her- bein, grandson of John Herbein, who removed to Bern township from Oley township, Berks county, where the progenitor of the Herbein family in Penn- sylvania located in 1717. He was educated in the public schools of Bern town- ship, and Sinking Springs, Berks county, and in Brunner's Scientific Academy, Reading, Pa. After teaching in the public schools of Berks county for several terms, Dr. Herbein took up the study of dentistry, in the Dental Department of the University of Pennsylvania; and was graduated from that institution, April 13, 1883, with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. After practicing for three years as assistant in the office of Dr. E. Slegel, Reading, Pa., he opened an office in Pottsville, in March, 1886, where he has continued in the active practice of his profession to the present time.
Dr. Herbein is a member of the Pennsylvania State Dental Society, the Schuylkill County Dental Society and the Lebanon Valley Dental Association, serving as Secretary of the last named organization for twenty-five consecu- tive years, and as President in 1911. As a charter member of the Historical Society, he served as librarian of the Society, from its organization, in 1903, until 1912, when he was elected secretary, which office he filled until 1915.
In November, 1912, he received the appointment of Local Registrar of the Pottsville District of the Pennsylvania Department of Health; at the same time he was elected secretary to the Board of Health of Pottsville, which offices he still holds.
Residing in one of the finest fossil fields in the country, Dr. Herbein has
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devoted his leisure time to the collection of Coal Flora, and has a large col- lection of typical specimens of coal fossils, as well as a very unique collec- tion of fossil reptilian foot tracks from the Mauch Chunk Red Shales in the vicinity of Pottsville.
In 1893, Dr. Herbein was married to Miss Bertha M. Stichter, of Potts- ville, taking as a residence and dental office the residence, No. 407 Garfield Square, Pottsville, where, with their family of three daughters and one son, they still reside.
GEORGE HOFF STICHTER. With the band of pioneers who blazed the trail through the wilds of Schuylkill county, Pa., in the year 1827, there was one young man who had just reached his majority, by the name of George Hoff Stichter, son of Peter Stichter. He was born in Reading, Berks Co., Pa., Feb. 13, 1805, and was educated in a private night school which he attended after the day's labor. He learned the trade of tinsmith with his cousin, John Stichter, of Pottsville, Pa. In 1829, upon the death of John Stichter, he purchased the good-will and interest in the stove and tin busi- ness from the estate, and branched out very extensively, employing twelve to fifteen journeymen in his factory, all hand work, and using three teams on the road to sell the finished product north, east, south and west.
George H. Stichter was a natural-born mechanic and inventor. In 1831 he patented an improvement on the first cook stove. In 1832 he designed and patented the cylinder stove now in use. In 1833 he patented and manu- factured the first heating stove for house use to burn coal in the United States. Up to then grates walled in were used exclusively. In 1845 he added hardware to his stove and tin business, and continued in active life until 1876, when he retired, dying May 4, 1887. He served as county com- missioner from 1845 to 1848, as school director, councilman and tax collector, was a member of the old Schuylkill County Troop in the thirties and forties, and a charter member of the first Lutheran Church at Pottsville.
On May 11, 1830, George H. Stichter was married to Mary, daughter of John Hahn, of Reading, Berks county. They were blessed with eleven children, of whom four survive: Henry P. Stichter, retired hardware mer- chant ; Emma Fox, widow of Augustus Fox, grocer; Anna Rich, widow of Isaac Rich; and Joseph Stichter, clerk with the Coal & Iron Company- all of Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
JAMES LORAH, of East Union township, has had his chief interests in the lumber business for a number of years. At present he deals exclusively in mine timber, operating as a lessee and working the timber under royalty. Possessed of noteworthy business qualities, Mr. Lorah has made his way in the world one of constant progress, in the course of which he has drawn to himself the respect of all his associates and the good will of his fellow men generally by the unselfish spirit he has shown and a keen sense of responsi- bility towards others, manifest in all his transactions.
The Lorahs are an old family of this section of Schuylkill county. Michael Lorah, the grandfather of James Lorah, was born May 18, 1788, in Berks county, Pa., and was of French descent. His education was acquired in the local subscription schools. He followed farming and shoemaking, owning a farm of one hundred acres, which included the property where his grand- son James Lorah now lives, in what is now East Union township, Schuylkill Vol. II-2
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county. It was all Union then. He died on his farm May 6, 1852, and is buried with his wife at St. John's German Reformed Church, of which he was a member. In politics he was a Whig. It is supposed that Michael Loralı was twice married, and the maiden name of his first wife, born Dec. 23, 1793, died March 6, 1837, was Hannah Fry. His second wife's maiden name was Polly Long. His children were: Emmanuel, who married Mary Houser; Henry, deceased; Lafayette, deceased; Daniel, who married Polly Schappell, both now deceased; Joshua, deceased; John, who married Cath- erine Johnson (she is deceased) ; Susanna, who married Aaron Gross; Hannah, wife of Samuel Beaver; Lucy, who died young, and William, who died young.
Joshua Lorah, son of Michael, was born July 11, 1830, in Union town- ship, that part now included in East Union, and there grew to manhood, meantime receiving his education in the local district schools. During his younger days he worked for his father on the home place, and after his marriage he lived as a tenant on various farms, continuing thus for a number of years. When Michael Lorah died his son Emmanuel bought the home- stead, which he operated until his death, when it was sold by the adminis- trators to Elias Peifer, who subsequently sold sixty-three acres of the orig- inal tract to Joshua Lorah. He carried on general farming there for a con- siderable period. In his later life he cut up thirteen acres of this property into building lots and laid out the town of Phinny, including 180 lots. As he died before they were all sold his son James, as administrator of the estate, continued to dispose of them, buying two of them himself, upon which he built his present home. That part of Joshua Lorah's farm remaining un- divided was bought by his son Michael upon the mother's death, and is now owned by Jacob Landauhl.
Mr. Loralı married Elizabeth Johnson, who was born Sept. 3, 1831, in Northumberland county, Pa., daughter of Henry Johnson, and was of Eng- lish ancestry. Mrs. Lorah survived her husband, his death occurring Feb. 4, 1895, hers Feb. 9, 1899, and they are buried at St. John's Reformed and Lutheran Church in East Union township. He was a prominent Reformed member of that church, in which he held the highest offices, serving many years as elder and deacon, and also acting as treasurer. Politically he was a Republican, and kept up an interest in local public affairs ; he served as one of the directors of the school district and as treasurer of same. To Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Lorah were born the following children: Hannah married John Deeble, and both are deceased; Michael, deceased, married Sarah Huntsinger, who now resides at Mountain Grove, Luzerne Co., Pa .; Thomas, a resident of East Union township, married Missouri Applegate; Emma died in infancy ; Mary died in infancy; Albert, deceased, married Anna Irwin, who lives at Allentown, Pa .; James is next in the family; Sarah, deceased, was the wife of William Schaeffer, who lives in Alabama; Rebecca Elizabeth is the widow of Andrew B. Faust, and lives next door to her brother James; Oscar, of McAdoo, Schuylkill county, married Clara Applegate; Ida is married to John Wilhelm, of Williamsport, Pa .; Jacob married Jennie Davis of Brandonville, Schuylkill county, and moved to Cleveland, Ohio.
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