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 49
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of Zion's Lutheran Church, the religious home of his ancestors for several generations, in which he has served as elder and deacon. On political ques- tions he is a Democrat.
Mr. Hoppes married Fianna Amanda Kistler, who was born Jan. 7, 1860, in West Penn township, near the "Mansion House" hotel, on the farm now owned by Elmer Zimmerman. She received her education in that township and in the public schools of Allentown, Pa., and is a member of the Lutheran congregation of Zion's Church in West Penn township; she takes great interest in its work, and is a teacher in the Sunday school. Mr. and Mrs. Hoppes have had three children, all of whom have been educated in the public schools of West Penn township: Harvey M., born June 28, 1880, is at present in Newark, N. J., where he is engaged as a night watchman; he is a member of the F. & A. M. at Newark; he married Ida Haas, who was born in 1880, and they have two children, Elmer (born April 7, 1901) and Wallace (born May 30, 1905). William H., born Nov. 12, 1889, assists his father on the home farm; he married Esther Helfrich, born May 1, 1891, and they have one child, Walter Eli, born Oct. 11, 1910. Charles A., born April 25, 1896, is living at home.
Michael Kistler, grandfather of Mrs. Hoppes, was a native of Lehigh county, Pa., and died about 1869, when about eighty years of age. He learned the trade of tanner, and owned and operated a farm as well as a tannery. When he retired from active labors, a few years before his death, he moved to a small farm adjoining his old home, and there passed away. He and his wife, Magdalena (Brobst), are buried at the New Jerusalem Lutheran Church near Wessnersville. Mr. Kistler was a member of that church and a Democrat in political opinion. His family consisted of ten children : Stephen, Joel, Jacob (who was three times married, to a Miss Kistler, Mrs. Miller and another Kistler, respectively), Michael, William, Daniel, Angeline (Mrs. Peter Seip), Mary (Mrs. Charles Faust), Sallie (Mrs. Stephen Snyder) and another whose name is not known.
Daniel Kistler, son of Michael, was born about Aug. 1, 1828, in Kistler's valley, below Lynnville, Lehigh county, and received his education in the local township schools. He learned tanning under the able instruction of his father, and when he went to work on his own account continued to follow it for a number of years. He owned sixty-five acres of land in West Penn town- ship (now owned by Elmer Zimmerman) and also had a tannery, operating both for a considerable period. When he sold his farm he removed to Allen- town, Pa., where he was engaged at the butcher's trade for three years, at the end of that time returning to his farm, which he had repurchased. He continued to reside there until within a few years of his death, when his daughter bought the property, and he passed the few remaining years of his life in retirement. For some time he ran a bone mill on his farm. He was a well known and much esteemed man in his day, serving fifteen years as a justice of the peace, was an elder and deacon of Zion's Lutheran Church of West Penn township, and superintendent of the Sunday school, and a man of marked probity in all the relations of life, trusted by all his associates. Politically he was originally a Republican, later a Democrat.
Mr. Kistler was first married in Lehigh county, before settling in West Penn township, to Polly Werley, daughter of Sebastian and Lydia (Bittner) Werley. She died in November, 1875, aged fifty years, eleven months, twenty-four days, and is buried at Zion's Church. By this marriage there
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were four children: Elmira, now a resident of Hamburg, Pa., married Louis Houser (deceased) and (second) Levi Rehrich; Fianna Amanda is the wife of Charles Henry Hoppes; Rev. William W., of Coopersburg, Pa., married Mary Mantz; Mentana died in infancy. For his second wife Daniel Kistler married Mrs. Sarah (German) Clouse, widow of Edward Clouse, and she passed away in July, 1913, surviving Mr. Kistler, whose death occurred Sept. 7, 1908. There were no children by this union. Daniel Kistler and his wife Sarah are buried at the New Tripoli Church in Lehigh county.
WILLIAM FRANKLIN BENSINGER is one of the best known resi- dents of West Brunswick township. As member of the faculty of the high school at Schuylkill Haven he is brought into direct contact with many of the families living in the borough and vicinity, and his activities in fraternal and church circles have further widened his acquaintance. In business he is a successful farmer, having a valuable tract under profitable cultivation. Mr. Bensinger was born April 10, 1879, at Schuylkill Haven, and belongs to one of the oldest families of this part of Schuylkill county. His great-great- grandfather, Frederick Bensinger, the progenitor of many of the name in this locality, was born in Montgomery county, Pa., and settled in East Bruns- wick township, Schuylkill county, before the Revolution. When the war broke out he was engaged in farming there, and he left his private affairs to go to the assistance of the Colonies. In his later years he received a pension for his services. He married Mary Weiman, and had a family of eight chil- dren. We have record of Michael; Benjamin; Isaac; Jacob, who married Hannah Dreher, and was the ancestor of another branch of the family in East Brunswick township; Frederick, who married a Koup; and Mrs. Koup. The parents are buried at the Frieden's Church, New Ringgold.
Michael Bensinger, son of Frederick, was a native of East Brunswick township, and died in 1855, aged fifty-seven years. He farmed in that town- ship, where he owned about seventy-five acres of land, which he cleared, erected a log house and barn, and carried on general farming the greater part of his life. He inherited 113 acres from his father, in Bensinger valley. The Indians were still numerous enough in the locality in his day to be a menace, and the neighboring farmers got together at night for protection. Michael Bensinger married Kate Boyer, daughter of Joseph Boyer, and she died aged sixty years. They had the following children: Edward married Sarah Heiser, and both are deceased ; William married a Miss Fister, and both are deceased ; Franklin B. married Catherine Shuster, and both are deceased; Benneville married Caroline Fahl, and both are deceased; Frederick married Sarah Reed and (second) Emmaline Bock, and they reside at McKeansburg; Priscilla married Thomas Hartung, and both are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Bensinger are buried in the Steigerwalt Church cemetery in East Brunswick township. He was a very active member of that church. In politics he was first a Demo- crat, later a Whig.
Frederick Bensinger, son of Michael, was born July 15. 1835, in East Brunswick township, where he was educated. His early years were spent in work on the paternal farm, but he left home when fifteen and a half years old and went to boating on the Delaware & Hudson canal, running from Rond- out, N. Y., to New York City, down the North river. Then he was a brake- man on the Philadelphia & Reading railroad, between Palo Alto, Schuylkill county, and Richmond (near Philadelphia). When he gave up this work he
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located at Port Carbon, to learn the trade of cabinetmaker with Jacob Bretz, but he had to stop this work because of illness, which incapacitated him for a year. After following house carpentering for a time he was again taken sick, and subsequently went to Manch Chunk, where he learned house paint- ing, the business he continued for twenty-four years. For a while after giving up painting he huckstered from McKeansburg, then moved to a farm in Bensinger valley and later to one in Summer valley, thence moving back to McKeansburg, where his first wife died. Buying a small tract of land, he operated it in connection with painting for one year, and in 1880 removed to Mahanoy City, where he began huckstering for H. K. Smith, later going into the green grocery business on his own account. When his store burned ont he moved back to the vicinity of McKeansburg, settling on a small tract which he cultivated, meantime also doing painting, for one year. For the next nine years he was tenant on William Bock's farm, afterwards rented various farms for a number of years, and finally bought the property at McKeansburg which he now occupies, living in retirement. He is an inter- ested member of the Steigerwalt Church (Church of God) in East Brunswick township, and is serving on the church committee. On political questions he has always been a stanch Republican.
Mr. Bensinger's first wife, Sarah (Reed), was born March 8, 1832, daugh- ter of Christopher and Maria Catherine (Meyer) Reed, and died June 5, 1879. She is buried at the Steigerwalt Church. "To this union were born children as follows: John Emanuel; Dianna, deceased, who was the wife of Frank Siegfried, of Orwigsburg; Elizabeth, wife of Francis Faust, of West Bruns- wick township; Frederick, deceased; Elenora; and two that died in infancy. For his second wife Mr. Bensinger married Emmaline Bock, who was born Nov. 15, 1851, daughter of William and Susanna (Sheip) Bock, and they have become the parents of nine children: Lillie Gertrude married Harvey Dundore, of Pottsville; Agnes Louisa died April 20, 1888, aged fifteen years, eight months, twenty days; James Frederick, of Walker township, married Lillie Shock; Katie Susanna is the widow of Walter Shock and is living in Walker township; Emma Justina married Phares Shock, and they live in Walker township; Walter Leroy, of Walker township, married Elmeta Boyer; Clarence Eugene, of Walker township, married Ada Leiby; Bertha May married Henry Schwenk, and lives in East Brunswick township; Furman Ambrose married Emma Miller, and they live in Drehersville, Schuylkill county.
John Emanuel Bensinger, son of Frederick, above, was born Aug. 7, 1855, at McKeansburg, where he was reared and educated. He drove a huckster's wagon in Mahanoy City for his father, whom he also assisted in painting until 1876, in which year he removed to Schuylkill Haven. There he drove a bakery wagon for J. C. Ehman for many years, later resuming painting, and for twenty years he was a painter foreman for the Philadelphia & Read- ing Coal & Iron Company, under C. F. Muehlhof, having charge of the terri- tory to Shamokin, Pa. He is now engaged in the painting business in Schuyl- kill Haven. Mr. Bensinger is a member of St. John's Reformed Church in that borough, a Republican in political association, and belongs to Washington Camp No. 47, of Schuylkill Haven.
Mr. Bensinger married Susanna Knittle, who was born April II, 1857, in McKeansburg, daughter of Benjamin Knittle, and four children have been born to them: William Franklin; Frederick Benjamin; Mamie, deceased,
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and another, deceased. Frederick Benjamin Bensinger, born Oct. 14, 1881, is now second clerk in the Philadelphia & Reading shops at Schuylkill Haven ; he married Bessie Moser, and they have had two children, Arlo James and Emmor Moser, the latter deceased.
William Franklin Bensinger obtained his early education in the schools of Schuylkill Haven, and later attended the Millersville State Normal school, from which institution he was graduated in 1898. He has been teaching at Schuylkill Haven ever since, for the last three years in the high school, and has been steadily successful as an educator, as his long retention in the same field would indicate. Agriculture, however, has claimed part of his interest, and he finds pleasure as well as profit in that line. In the spring of 1911 he removed to his present farm in West Brunswick township, which he pur- chased from Francis A. Faust, having 109 acres, of which eighty-nine are under cultivation. The land is devoted to general farming, but about fifty acres are in garden truck, and Mr. Bensinger takes produce to the markets at Pottsville and St. Clair twice a week. He makes a specialty of the growing of apples and plums, and finds a ready sale for all his crops. He has fine stock, seventeen head of Holstein cattle, three mules, two horses and fourteen hogs.
Like many of his ancestors Mr. Bensinger adheres to the faith of the Church of God, belonging to the Kimmel Church in his home township (Rev. E. F. Yoder, pastor), which is in the English eldership. He takes a leading part in its activities, being secretary of the church council, secretary of the Christian Endeavor Society, and in charge of a Bible class of young ladies in the Sunday school. He is independent in politics and not specially identi- fied with public affairs. Socially he holds membership in Washington Camp No. 47, P. O. S. of A., of Schuylkill Haven, of which he is a past president, and he was recording secretary of the organization for fifteen years; he also affiliates with Webster Council, No. 23, Jr. O. U. A. M., of Schuylkill Haven.
Mr. Bensinger was united in marriage with Irene Maud Rubright, who was born March 9, 1879, in Shumanstown, Northumberland Co., Pa., and re- ceived her education at Shamokin, that county, graduating from the high school there. Before her marriage Mrs. Bensinger clerked in the Miehle store in Pottsville, and later in the general store of Peter Raring, in St. Clair. Like her husband she is a member of the Kimmel Church and interested in its enter- prises, being secretary of the Home and Foreign Missionary societies, and an extra teacher in the Sunday school. Mr. and Mrs. Bensinger have two chil- dren : Kenneth Rubright, born Dec. 13, 1904, and Marlin Emanuel, born March 7, 1909, both of whom attend school in Schuylkill Haven.
Aaron Rubright, grandfather of Mrs. Bensinger, was born in Schuylkill Haven, and died in December, 1894, aged over seventy-five years. At one time he conducted an inn at Mount Pleasant, Schuylkill county, where the stage-coaches used to stop on their way to Pottsville and Shamokin. During the Civil war he enlisted in a cavalry regiment and saw hard service, remaining in the army throughout the war, and was held prisoner at Andersonville. Later he was a boatman for many years on the canal of the Schuylkill Naviga- tion Company. At the time of his death he was a watchman for the Phila- delphia & Reading Company at Shumansville. He was a member of the Ger- man Lutheran Church and of Ashland Post, G. A. R., and in politics was a Republican. He and his wife, Sarah (Eyster), who died in September, 1896, aged seventy-eight years, are buried at Lavelle, Schuylkill county. She was
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a daughter of Benneville and Camille (Epler) Eyster. They had the follow- ing children: Jeremiah, who married Angeline Nuss, living at Mount Carmel, Pa .; Josiah; Nora, wife of Samuel Houch, of Reading, Pa .; Adeline, wife of John Troust, of Philadelphia, Pa .; Mahala, wife of Robert Rogers, of St. Clair, this county ; William, who married Tillie Walters and lives at Pottsville; Charles, who married Emma Mench, living at Eagle Hill, Schuylkill county ; Sarah, wife of Albert Kramer, of Philadelphia, and Ellsworth (his wife's name is Carrie).
Josiah Rubright, son of Aaron, was born Dec. 25, 1855, at Mount Pleas- ant, Schuylkill county. He was practically self-educated, having begun work in the coal mines at the age of nine years, and continued to be employed there until he was a youth of sixteen. After that he learned the carpenter's trade with the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company, for whom he worked until twenty-eight years old, subsequently having charge of pumps for three years. He was then made outside foreman for the same company, holding that position up to the time of his death, which occurred March 30, 1905. Mr. Rubright is buried in the Odd Fellows cemetery at St. Clair. He was well known in the local fraternities, belonging to the Knights of Pythias at Lavelle, to Ashland Lodge, F. & A. M., and to John Siegfried Camp, Sons of Veterans, at Mount Carmel. Politically he was a Republican, and his early religious connection was with the Lutheran Church. Mr. Rubright married Berdilla Kirlin, who was born Oct. 31, 1853, in Port Clinton, Schuylkill county, daughter of Effinger Jacob and Caroline (Diener) Kirlin, and she now makes her home with her son Effinger in Ocean View, N. J. Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Rubright were the parents of nine children, four of whom died in infancy, the others being: Mrs. W. F. Bensinger; Gertrude Margaret, born July 14, 1880, wife of Samuel G. Turpe, of Mays Landing, N. J .: George Alonzo, born May 3, 1882, who married Alice Rabond and lives at Wade, Schuylkill county ; Charles Edgar, born Feb. 16, 1884, who married Annie Waters and makes his home at St. Clair, Schuylkill county ; and Effinger Jacob, born July 14, 1892, residing at Ocean View, New Jersey.
FRED SCHENCK, of Minersville, is a business man of standing and worthy of the respected position he occupies. The shoe store he has conducted for over twenty-five years is a popular trading place, and his patronage has been built up by methods which deserve encouragement, also gaining him the personal esteem of his customers.
Mr. Schenck is a native of Prussia, Germany, born Jan. 14, 1865, son of Fred Schenck. The father was also a native of Prussia, where he worked by the day until he came to America with his family, in 1866. Settling at Miners- ville, Schuylkill Co., Pa., he engaged in railroad work, which he followed for a period of thirty-nine years, being one of the first men that the Philadelphia & Reading Company placed on the retired list. He was a member of the Ger- man Lutheran Church, and active in promoting its interests. He died at Min- ersville. By his marriage to Sophia Voelsch he had a family of six children: Lena, who married Ed. Klinger ; Fred; William, deceased ; Elizabeth, wife of John Geier; Charles, deceased; and Annie, who married Herbert Drake.
Fred Schenck obtained his education at Minersville, and during boyhood began work at the mines, where he was employed from the time he was ten years until he reached the age of fifteen years. He then learned the trade of shoemaker, and after following it for a few years as journeyman opened a
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store of his own, in 1887. Mr. Schenck has been in business continuously since, being now located at No. 218 Sunbury street, and he carries a general line of boots and shoes and has many steady customers. He is thoroughly familiar with the shoe business, and his careful devotion to the wants of his patrons, intelligent understanding of their needs and sincere efforts to please are the foundations upon which his success has been made. His high character and worthy life entitle him to a place among the most estimable citizens of the borough.
Mr. Schenck married Christie Bahnlofink, of Minersville, and they have had a family of six children, namely : Edna, Robert, Herman, Alma, William and Helen. Mr. Schenck is an active member of the German Lutheran Church, and his fraternal connection is with the Royal Arcanum. He is independent on political questions.
HARRY P. KLINE, of Mahanoy City, is one of the qualified mine fore- men in the anthracite district. He has been outside foreman at the North Mahanoy colliery, one of the workings of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company, continuously since 1907.
Mr. Kline is a native of Mahanoy City, where he has passed most of his life. His parents, William and Sarah ( Kline) Kline, are now ( 1915) seventy- eight and eighty-two years old, respectively, the oldest living couple at Ma- hanoy City. William Kline was born in Nassau, Germany, and came to America when a youth of sixteen. For a short time after his arrival he was located at Ashland, Schuylkill county, and in 1860 settled at what is now Mahanoy City, where there were then only three houses. He was employed for a considerable period cutting timber and clearing land on the present site of the borough, afterwards taking a position at what was known as the Bow-' man colliery. For several years he was inside foreman there, remaining at the colliery until 1897, in which year he gave up the foremanship because of failing eyesight. He then worked in a stone quarry for a short time, before retiring, but he has been totally blind for the last few years. Mr. Kline is a large man, six feet, one inch in height, and possessed unusual strength when in his prime. As one of the pioneers in his part of the county he is very well known to many of its residents, and is universally respected for his high char- acter. He married Sarah Kline, of Roaring Creek, Columbia Co., Pa., daugh- ter of John Kline, and they now reside with their son Harry. Six children were born to them: William; Clara, Mrs. Thomas Hillibush; Kate, Mrs. Frantz Kaier: George; Harry P .; and Tillie, Mrs. McNally.
Harry P. Kline was born March 1, 1872, and obtained his schooling in the borough. He was but nine years old when he started mine work in the usual way, as slate picker at the breaker of the Mahanoy colliery, being so employed until he reached the age of fourteen years. He was then transferred to the Northi Mahanoy colliery, where he was breaker engineer for one year, after which he did machinist work there until eighteen years old. For the next two years he was assistant outside foreman there, followed machine work again for three years, and then became outside foreman at the Potts colliery, at Locust Dale, this county, where he was stationed for two years and eight months-from July 1I, 1904, to March 22, 1907. Returning to the North Mahanoy colliery he became outside foreman, in which position he has since been retained, and he has performed its duties creditably, holding the high regard of the men and the confidence of his superiors. This is one of the most important opera-
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tions of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company, about nine hun- dred men and boys being employed there. Mr. Kline has won his promotion by honest effort, and he is a good citizen in every sense of the term.
Mr. Kline was married to Celie Burke, who died Nov. 3, 1909. She was the mother of seven children, namely: William; Nicholas; Harry; Daniel, deceased; George, deceased; John, deceased; and a daughter that died in in- fancy. On Jan. 27, 1912, Mr. Kline married (second) Tillie Graham, daugh- ter of Edward Graham, and two children have been born to this marriage: a son that died in infancy ; and Edward. Mr. Kline's religious connection is with the German Catholic Church.
FRANK P. SELTZER has recently settled upon a fine farm in North Manheim township and expects to give considerable attention to its cultiva- tion. He is also engaged in the business of hauling coal, keeping nine horses and four men employed at that work, and in all of his undertakings has dis- played enterprise thoroughly typical in Schuylkill county of the name he hears. Mr. Seltzer was born in North Manheim township June 22, 1876, and belongs to an old Pennsylvania family, the branch of which he is a member having been established in Schuylkill county by his grandfather.
The Seltzers were first established in Berks county, Pa., after their emi- gration to America. Jacob Seltzer emigrated in 1752 from the Upper Rhein, near Coblentz, in the vicinity of the famous "Seltzer Springs" in Germany, where he was born in 1732. He settled in Heidelberg township (where after- wards Womelsdorf was laid out), Berks Co., Pa., and became a naturalized citizen in 1765. Several years before (1762) he established a hotel in the village, which has continued to be known until the present time as the "Seltzer House." He died in 1788. He was married to Maria Catherine Heister, of Bern township, born in 1735, died in 1817, and by her had six children : Jacob, who married Catharine Kauffman ; Michael, who enlisted in the Revolutionary war and died of fever shortly before the end of his term of service ; Elizabeth, who married Dr. Michael Tryon, a prominent physician of Tulpehocken; Mary, who married Jacob Spang, a prominent ironmaster of Oley ; Catharine, who married David Dewees ; and a daughter who married Christopher Reed.
Jacob Seltzer was born in 1764 at Womelsdorf, where he carried on farm- ing and kept hotel until his decease in 1825. He was married to Catharine Kauffman (daughter of Jacob, of Oley), born in 1766 and died in 1842, and by her he had eight children: William married Catharine Ruth; Jolin married Mary Van Reed; Daniel married a Weiser; David married Eliza O. Sheetz and moved to Ohio; Jacob married a Hassinger; Michael married Catherine Haine; Anna remained single; Elizabeth married George See.
Abraham Seltzer, great-grandfather of Frank P. Seltzer, was born in Berks county, Pa., and was an early settler in East Brunswick township, Schuylkill county, where he followed farming until his death, which occurred at Drehersville. For a number of years he kept hotel at that point, besides ยท following agricultural pursuits. He lived to the age of ninety-one years, and his wife, whose maiden name was Faust, is buried with him at the Red Church. They had the following family: Mrs. Daniel Ebling, Mrs. Edw. Ebling, Michael (who married Mary Freyer), Nathan, Joseph (went West, where he died) and Mrs. Reuben Miller (lived in the West).
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