Northumberland County Biographies
C

CHAMBERLIN. The Chamberlin family of Shamokin Township has been settled in that part of Northumberland County from pioneer days. Joseph Chamberlin, grandfather of Joseph H. Chamberlin and Silas Chamberlain (as one branch of the family writes the name), and of the late Lewis Chamberlin, cousins, all of whom make their homes in Shamokin Township, was born in New Jersey, whence he removed to Pennsylvania at an early date, settling on land in Northumberland County now owned by Silas Chamberlain. He had a tract of about two hundred acres, and there he lived and died, reaching the age of eighty-seven years, seven months, fourteen days. Vast improvements were made upon the property during his lifetime. Though frequently in danger of being molested by the Indians in the early days he persevered in the work of clearing his land and getting it under cultivation. He and his wife, Mary (Young), are buried in the cemetery of the Upper Valley M. E. Church. They had the following children: Peter,P ¡
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HARRY W. CHAMBERLIN, of Milton, Northumberland County, president of the Milton National Bank, lawyer and present borough solicitor, is a member of the third generation of his family to reside in that place and most worthily bears a name which in every generation within memory has had notable representatives. In both his professional association and his relation to the bank he is practically the successor of his grandfather, W. C. Lawson, with whom he studied law and who was president of the Milton National Bank for many years from its organization. Thus, though he had many advantages of position and education, instead of the usual difficulties which confront the young man who cares to make a name for himself, he had to take up the burden of maintaining a standard already set. That he has proved himself able to do that and more his standing in professional and financial circles in Milton today, which is second to none, clearly shows.
Mr. Chamberlin was born Aug. 29, 1872, in MilP ¡
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JOSEPH H. CHAMBERLIN, son of Lemuel, was born July 31, 1851, in Shamokin Township, where he is now engaged in farming. He obtained his education in the local public schools, and remained at home, assisting his father with the farm work until twenty-four years of age, since when he has been living at his present location. He has a tract of seventy acres, bought of Lewis Chamberlin in 1873, lying along Irish creek, and besides this is half owner of another farm in Shamokin Township. In addition to general farming and tracking he has engaged in lumbering to some extent, and has prospered in all his various undertakings. His natural mechanical ability has been of great use to him in his work, enabling him to do many things for himself, and his handiness has not only saved him hiring much work done but has proved convenient in many emergencies. Mr. Chamberlin was one of the organizers of The Irish Valley & Seven Points Telephone Company, and is serving as one of its directors. Mr. ChambP ¡
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LEWIS CHAMBERLIN, son of Cabel and Mary F. (Krissinger), was at the time of his death, April 11, 1911, a retired farmer of Shamokin Township. He was born there Aug. 7, 1834, and was reared to manhood upon the paternal farm. In 1857 he went to Shamokin borough, where he remained for three years, engaged in running a stationary engine. Returning to his native Township, he leased the farm of Michael M. Sober, his father-in-law, and conducted that property for a period of five years as a renter, in 1873 purchasing the tract which consists of 130 acres of valuable land. It is located in Irish Valley. He erected all new buildings on this farm, and the farm at present is one of the very finest in this section, due to his unremitting and intelligent care. In addition to general farming he made a specialty of dairying for about twenty-five years, selling his milk in Shamokin. Mr. Chamberlin retired from active pursuits in the spring of 1910, his son George W. taking charge of the farm. He aP ¡
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MOSES CHAMBERLIN was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, November 8, 1812, youngest son of William and Ann Mary (Kimble) Chamberlin. He was reared on his father's homestead and educated at the schools of that period. At the age of twenty years he went to Lewisburg and served an apprenticeship of three years at the tanner's trade. In 1833 he removed to Milton, engaged in the mercantile business, and followed the various occupations of milling, lumbering, and farming until 1874, when he retired from active life. He purchased the land and laid out what is known as the Chamberlin addition to Milton, and also laid out and sold land upon which Watsontown is situated. He was married in 1835 to Mary Ann, daughter of George Correy, of Milton, who died, August 15, 1838. One child was born to this union, Elizabeth H., widow of William Follmer, of Watsontown. He was again married in 1840 to Jane H. Montgomery, daughter of John Watson, of Watsontown, and to them six children have been born, four of whom are living: William, of Milton; Caroline, Mrs. A. O. FP ¡
(ù politics, and has served in the several municipal offices of his town. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and has served as trustee, recording steward, class leader, Sunday school superintendent, etc. (History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, edited by Herbert C. Bell, Published by Brown, Runk & Co. of Chicago, Ill, 1891 pg. 980 Transcribed by Tammy L. Clark)

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SILAS CHAMBERLAIN was born July 30, 1848, in Shamokin Township, and there obtained his education in the public schools. He was reared upon the homestead farm, where he has spent all his life with the exception of four years after his marriage, during which time he was engaged in farming elsewhere. Returning to the old home he took the farm, which originally contained about 130 acres, and has added to his holdings until he now has 160 acres. His industry has been well rewarded, and he is considered one of the substantial farmers of his neighborhood, where his honorable life has gained him high standing personally as well as in a business way. In 1875 Mr. Chamberlain married Derresa Adams, daughter of David Adams, of Ralpho Township, this county. They have had a family of nine children: Lorenzo D. married Mary B. Moore and they have a son, James F.; Ellsworth L. married Maud E. Osmun and they have a son, Lamar Ellsworth; William A. is still at home; Martin L. married Myrtle Hamilton P ¡
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WILLIAM CHAMBERLIN was born in New Jersey, September 25, 1736. He was lieutenant colonel in the New Jersey militia, and served in the Revolutionary war. He was married in 1758 to Miss Tinbrook, who bore him seven children. March 3,1771, he married Ann Park, who bore him four children, and died, November 12, 1779. In 1782 he married Margaret Park, and by her were born four children; she died, April 29, 1791, and August 16, 1794, he married Ann Mary Kimble, and to this union were born eight children. He was twenty-three years of age at the birth of his first child, and seventy-six years of age at the birth of his twenty-third child. He died, August 21, 1817. His oldest son Lewis, while on a visit to his father, was killed at the battle of Germantown, October 4, 1777, by a cannon ball. About 1792 he removed to Buffalo valley and purchased six hundred acres of land, in what is now Kelly township, Union county, where he lived in prosperity until his death. He was a prominent member of the Baptist church. His last wife came of an old family. She was fP ¡
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LORENZO D. CHERRY, who has a butcher business and farm at the Weigh Scales, in Shamokin Township, is a son of the late Alba B. Cherry, who founded the butcher business and carried it on for twenty years. Mr. Cherry was born in Shamokin Township Feb. 2, 1873. His great- grandfather came to America in the early days of the development of this region and settled in the lower part of Northumberland County, Pa., passing the remainder of his life here. Beyond the fact that he died when a young man little is known concerning him. His son, John Cherry, was the grandfather of Lorenzo D. Cherry. There was also a son James, who settled in Center County, Pa, besides two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.
John Cherry lived at Hollowing Run, near Fisher’s Ferry, in Lower Augusta Township, Northumberland County, and there followed his trade, that of blacksmith, throughout his active years. He died there when comparatively a young man, and is buried along the river bank near Fisher’s Ferry. His wifP ¡
(ù “The Cherry family was early represented in this locality (Shamokin), and is said to have suffered in the Indian depredations of the Revolutionary period. The name of James Cherry appears as a taxable in Shamokin Township in 1788; he was probably the first settler, and cleared land at Luke Fidler, Springfield and elsewhere, residing at a house subsequently known as Irich’s. By the division of the Clark tract in 1803 John Cherry was assigned the lower or western portion. Joseph Cherry settled on the plat near Eagle Run brewery, where vestiges of his improvements were visible long after his residence there had terminated. Prior to the war of 1812 Abraham Cherry built a sawmill on Shamokin creek opposite the Cameron colliery, and near it stood an old dwelling house, for many years a landmark in this section. Another member of this family had a distillery on the hill east of Shamokin.”

Alba B. Cherry, son of John Cherry, was born in 1834, and died April 25, 1905, aged seventy years, nine months; nineteen days. In early life he followed railroading, and later engaged in farming in Irish Valley, in Shamokin Township, where about 1870 he commenced the butcher business now conducted by his son. He himself carried it on until 1890, after which he resumed farming, devoting all his time to that calling until his death. He married Lavina Moyer, who was born in 1831, daughter of Jacob Moyer, of Shamokin Township, and died May 30, 1900, aged sixty-eight years, ten months, twenty-one days. Mr. and Mrs. Cherry are buried at the Upper Methodist church in Shamokin Township, of which church they were active members. They were the parents of four children: Malissa, Emma, Edward and Lorenzo D.; all of whom are deceased except Lorenzo.
Lorenzo D. Cherry attended the public schools of his native Township and subsequently learned the butcher’s trade with his father. In 1890 he took cP ¡
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HOLDEN CHESTER, a retired mine operator of Shamokin, whose portrait is shown on the opposite page, has won an enviable reputation among the best business men and is recognized as the personification of honor and integrity. He was born in the Green Mountain state, near the Canadian line, September 30, 1833. He is a son of Joseph and Hannah Chester. He went with his parents to Schuylkill County, Pa., when quite young and was reared in that county. As his father died on a trip west when Holden was still a lad, he received no education worthy the name, but began life in the mines at the age of nine years, first working as a slate-picker. He continued working in and around the mines in that capacity, also assisting miners and driving horses and mules inside, until he attained the age of fourteen years. At that age he apprenticed himself to learn the trade of a blacksmith at Tamaqua, serving six years and working from Pottsville to Tamaqua, a distance of sixteen miles. Having served thP ¡
(ù HOLDEN CHESTER, superintendent of the Union Coal Company, was born in Vermont, September 30, 1833, son of Joseph and Hannah Chester. His parents dying when he was very young, the advantages of an education were denied him. He began life in the mines at the age of nine years, and continued at the same until fourteen years old, when he went to Tamaqua, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, and apprenticed himself to the blacksmith trade, serving six years. In 1861 he enlisted in Company L, Third Pennsylvania Cavalry, and served three years; his service during the last six months was as a veterinary surgeon, acting under a commission from the Secretary of War. At the close of his term of enlistment he returned to Dauphin county, built the Williamstown colliery, and was outside superintendent eight years. In March 1873, he located at Shamokin as the superintendent of the Mineral Railroad and Mining Company, which position he occupied until 1880, when he was made general superintendent P ¡
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THEODORE CHESTER, now a retired resident of Sunbury, is a well known man in that borough, where he was engaged in the hotel business for a number of years, having formerly conducted the “St. Charles Hotel,” which his sons now own. He was born Sept. 27, 1844, in Barry Township, Schuylkill Co., Pa., only son of John Chester, who lived at Danville, Pa., where he was the first maker of cast iron plows. His plows were used extensively all over Pennsylvania. He went West about 1851. John Chester married Matilda Yarnall, who came from Schuylkill County, Pa., and was a member of a Quaker family which was earlier settled in Maiden-creek Township, Berks County. Mrs. Chester is interred in a private burial ground on the homestead. Her father, Elijah Yarnall, lived in Schuylkill County.
Theodore Chester was brought up by his maternal grandfather Elijah Yarnall, attended the public schools of the home neighborhood in Schuylkill County, and later went to school at Rushtown and in Lower AugustP ¡
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CHRIST. Several members of this family have been associated with the business interests of Mount Carmel as butchers and dealers in meat, the brothers B. F. Christ and J. M. Christ now conducting well equipped stores in the borough, where their father, John Christ, was established in the same line from 1877 until his retirement. All have been substantial and useful citizens, a credit to their name and the community in which they have lived and worked.
The father of John Christ died when a comparatively young man, in Schuylkill County, Pa. His widow married a Mr. Snyder. She had three children by her first marriage, namely: Emanuel, who settled at Ashland, Pa., where he died (his son Isaac lives at Tamaqua, Schuylkill County); Elias, who died in the Mahantango Valley, unmarried; and John.
John Christ was born Feb. 3, 1831, and died in October, 1905. Early in life he became a drover and butcher, and he made Western trips to buy cattle, which he drove East in the early days. He wP ¡
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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN CHRIST, son of John and Hannah (Heckert) Christ, was born Nov. 3, 1874, in Eldred Township, Schuylkill Co., Pa. He received all his education in the public schools of Mount Carmel, and learned the butcher business under his father, with whom he was associated as a member of the firm of John Christ & Sons, as above stated. and whose interest he purchased in 1903. In 1907 he built his fine store at No. 123 North Oak Street, one of the most complete and up-to-date meat markets in this district. He also conducts another market at No. 135 South Oak Street. Mr. Christ commands a thriving trade, and gives constant employment to from twelve to fifteen men. He has a stock farm of his own, comprising 150 acres at Stonington, in Shamokin Township, this County, and there keeps his cattle until they are ready for slaughter, an arrangement which gives him many advantages over the average dealer. He is a business man of ability and resource, enterprising in his ideas and methodsP ¡
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JEREMIAH M. CHRIST, son of John and Hannah (Heckert) Christ, was born March 16, 1867, in Eldred Township, Schuylkill Co., Pa. He began his education in the schools of that locality, receiving the rest of his schooling at Mount Carmel, whither he removed with his parents in 1877. He was in his father’s employ until 1892, when he went west, spending eighteen months traveling throughout the West and Northwest, finding employment at different places. After his return home he again worked for his father, until he was thirty-two years old, at which time he and his brother became associated with their father under the name of John Christ & Sons. At the end of a year Jeremiah M. Christ withdrew from this partnership and located in Buffalo, N.Y., where he engaged in business on his own account. Returning to Mount Carmel, he established his present store, at No. 221 South Market Street, in 1906. He deals in groceries, provisions, butter and eggs, as well as fresh and smoked meats, and carrieP ¡
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COL. WILLIAM CLAPHAM, who built Fort Augusta, and was the first officer in charge there, was commissioned captain and lieutenant-colonel March 29, 1756, and commanded the 3d Battalion, known as the Augusta regiment. The erection of a fort at Shamokin (now Sunbury) had been urged repeatedly by friendly Indians. It was probably first suggested by Andrew Montour and Monocatootha at Harris’s Ferry on Nov. 1, 1755, and at once received the favorable consideration of the governor, who intended to build it that winter. On Jan. 17, 1756, it was again brought to the notice of the governor at a conference at Carlisle. The Indians said the fort would be “a place of refuge in times of distress for us with our wives and children to fly to for our safety.” Construction would probably have commenced at once if the weather had permitted. The Indians were impatient at the delay, and at other conferences, held Feb. 22d and April 10th, urgently requested the governor to keep his promise. The locatioP ¡
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WILLIAM S. CLAPP (name also spelled Klopp and Klapp), now living retired at Milton, Pa., is a native son of Northumberland County, whose years of active work have placed him in such substantial position that his declining days find him free from care. He was born in Lewis Township Oct. 19, 1835, son of John Klopp (3).
John Klopp (or Klapp) emigrated from France with his two brothers, the latter settling in the North and West. He himself located in Bern Township, Berks Co., Pa., where he became a large land owner and where he died. He was the father of a large family, as follows: John (2); Abraham; who died in Berks County; George, who settled in the West; Jacob, who died young; Daniel, who died at Pottsville; Peter, mentioned below; Catharine, who married a Snyder; and Christian, who married a Nauel.
Peter Klopp, son of John, was born in Berks County, and on coming to Northumberland County located at McEwensville, where he engaged in tanning for a year. At the end of that timP ¡
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CLARK. The Clark family is of early record in Northumberland County. One Jonathan Clark lived above Sunbury, in the vicinity of Klinesgrove, where be owned property and followed farming. He is buried in that section. His children were: William, John, Samuel, Wesley, Peggy (married Robert Campbell) and Mrs. Kuhrs. Of these, William settled at Roaring Creek; he had a son William. John was a farmer in his early life, but moved to Sunbury, where he lived and died; he also had a son William and daughters Mary Ann, Jane, Elizabeth and Ellen.
Wesley Clark, born above Sunbury, lived later where his son Frank is now located, in Lower Augusta Township. He was a farmer, and his home place consisted of thirty-five acres, besides which he had a tract of twenty-seven acres. He died where his son Frank now lives, and is buried at the Presbyterian Church near which he lived. His wife was Mercy Yoxtheimer, who came from the same vicinity as her husband, and their children were Benjamin, Malinda P ¡
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ALFRED C. CLARK, M.D., of Sunbury, has been engaged in the practice of medicine in that borough for a period of forty years, and has long been one of the prominent physicians of his section. He has served in a number of public positions, in his professional capacity, and in every relation of life has been found a valuable citizen, conscientious in the performance of duty and in his endeavors to uphold high standards of living among the many with whom his work has brought him into association.
Dr. Clark is a grandson of Jonathan Clark, who married Elizabeth Stroh, daughter of Philip Stroh, who was from Lancaster County, Pa. Mrs. Clark was born Jan. 14, 1802, and died Aug. 22, 1884. She was the mother of: David, of Northumberland County; John, of Lower Augusta Township, this county; Mary, who married a Mr. DeWitt, and is now a widow, living in Lower Augusta Township; and Philip.
Philip Clark, son of Jonathan, was born in Upper Augusta Township, this County, and died at Sunbury P ¡
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ELMER E. CLARK has been in business in Sunbury since 1907, in which year he bought out the well known and old established planing mill of the late Ira T. Clement, which he now conducts under the name of the Sunbury Lumber Manufacturing Company, doing planing mill work of all kinds. The plant is one of the important factors in the industrial prosperity of the borough, and Mr. Clark has, by his ability and enterprise, shown himself worthy to be classed among Sunbury’s substantial business men. He was born April 21, 1862, in Point Township, Northumberland County, and received his education in the public schools of Upper Augusta Township. He worked for his father on the farm until he went to Danville, Pa., where he was employed in a rolling mill for two years, after which he went to Plymouth, Luzerne Co., Pa., where he also remained two years, engaged in the mines and as a clerk. Following this he took a course at Coleman’s business college, in Newark, N.J., from which institution he wP ¡
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F. A. CLARK, physician, was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, May 23, 1841, son of Franklin A. and Louisa (Eisely) Clark He attended the public schools, after which he was occupied as a miner twelve years. August 20, 1861, he enlisted in Company K, Forty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served until the close of the war. He participated in the battles of Cedar Mountain, second battle of Winchester, Chancellorsville, Antietam, and Gettysburg, and was with Sherman on his march from Atlanta to the sea. After the war he returned to Shamokin and resumed the occupation of miner. In the fall of 1866 he took charge of the drug department of his father's business, where he remained until 1875. He then began the study of medicine with Dr. J. S. Hollenback; in the winter of 1876-77 he took a course of lectures at Jefferson Medical College, and subsequently studied with Dr. O. M. Robins, of Shamokin. In the spring of 1880 he graduated from Jefferson Medical College and at once began the practP ¡
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FRANKLIN A. CLARK, deceased, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1813. He left home at an early age and learned the trade of machinist. About the year 1837 he located at Sunbury, and in 1839 removed to Shamo kin, and was engaged in hotel keeping seven years, and in connection with that business was engaged in hauling coal from the mines. He then purchased land and was occupied in farming four years, after which he accepted a position with the owner of the Lancaster colliery to put in the machinery, where he remained four years. He was then engaged in the clothing business a number of years, when he embarked in a general store. In 1865 he engaged in the drug and hardware business, which he continued until his death in 1872. He married in 1837, Louisa Eisely, and they were the parents of eleven children: John W.; Frank A.; Angelina, deceased; Emma, deceased, who married J. Trible; Ellen P., deceased, who married G. F. Holshue; Henry S., who died in the regular army; ValenP ¡
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H. PRESTON CLARK, son of John S., was born April 27, 1874, in Upper Augusta Township, where he obtained his education in the common schools. He was reared to farming, which he began for himself in the spring of 1901, at his present home in Upper Mahanoy Township, Northumberland County, where he owns eighty-nine acres. This was formerly a Rebuck homestead, and part of the farm was owned by the Simmis family, who were colored people; they are buried in a private lot on the Ammon Knox farm. Mr. Clark built his barn in 1904. On Aug. 28, 1909, Mr. Clark married Ida Schwalm, daughter of, Fred and Sarah (Rubenthal) Schwalm, and granddaughter of Frederick Schwalm. Five children have been born to them Sadie E (who died in infancy), Carrie S., Edgar A., Della L. and Calvin A. Mr. Clark and his family are members of the Reformed congregation at the Salem Church, which, he has served as deacon.( Genealogical and Biographical Annals of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, by J. L. Floyd P ¡
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CLARK, Mrs. Helen Taggart, journalist, born in Northumberland, Pa., 24th April, 1849. She is the oldest of three children of the late Col. David Taggart and Annie Pleasants Taggart. She was educated in the Friends' central high school, in Philadelphia, Pa. In October, 1869, she made a six months' stay in Charleston, S. C., whither she went to make a visit to her father, then stationed in that city as paymaster in the United States army. Miss Taggart became the wife in 1870 of Rev. David H. Clark, a Unitarian minister settled over the church in Northumberland. Four years later they removed to New Milford, Pa., to take charge of a Free Religious Society there. In 1875 Mr. Clark was called to the Free Congregational Society in Florence, Mass. Attention was first drawn to "H. T. C ," by which some of her earlier work was signed, in 1880, by her occasional poems in the Boston “Index,” of which her husband was for a time assistant editor, and in the Springfield “Republican.” Her life, as she puts it, has been one of intellectual aspirations and clamorous dish-washing and bread-winning. Mrs. Clark left Florence in 1884, returning to her father's house in Northumberland with her youngest child, an only daughter, her two older children being boys. There for two years she was a teacher in the high school, varying her duties by teaching music and German outside of school hours, story and verse writing and leading a Shakespeare class. In August, 1887, she accepted a position in the "Good Cheer" office, Greenfield, Mass., whence she was recalled to Northumberland the following February by the illness of her father. His illness terminated fatally a little later, since which time Mrs. Clark has made her home in her native town. Mrs. Clark has a large circle of friends, and her social duties take up much of her time, but she contrives to furnish a weekly column for the Sunbury "News," to perform the duties pertaining to her office as secretary of the Woman's Relief Corps in her town, to lead a young people's literary society, and to contribute stories and poems to Frank Leslie's papers, the "Christian Union," the "Woman's Journal" and the Springfield "Republican."

(American Women Fifteen Hundred Biographies Vol. 1, by Frances Elizabeth Willard & Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, Publ. 1897. Transcribed by Marla Snow)

WILSON HOWARD CLARK, who is now engaged in general farming in Upper Augusta Township, was born in that Township July 4, 1858, and there attended public school in his boyhood. For some years he was employed by the Sunbury Gas Company, and he followed the same line of work for a number of years, in Ohio, Indiana (at Goshen), New Orleans (La.) and Plymouth, Pa., where he lived for a number of years. He remained there until 1905, in which year he returned to his native Township, where he has a farm of 137 acres. He is engaged in general agricultural work, in which he has been very successful, and is one of the most respected citizens of his section. He is a Republican in politics, and he and his family are Methodists in religious matters. On June 26, 1880, Mr. Clark married Hannah Shonk, daughter of Caleb Shonk, who lived at Plymouth, Pa.; the Shonk family came into this section from New Jersey. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Clark: Howard Wilson, Jr.; Caleb S.; William K.; HeP ¡
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EDWARD CLAYBERGER, of Lower Augusta Township, has been engaged in farming there since 1906, having returned to the vocation of his early life after many years spent in mining. He was born June 4, 1855, at Aristes (Montana), near Centralia, Pa., son of Adam Clayberger.
Adam Clayberger was born Oct. 8, 1817, in Hamburg, Germany, and was twelve years old when he came to America, landing at Baltimore, Md. He lived with a Myers family, at York, Pa., to which place he had proceeded from Baltimore, and there he married the daughter, Juliann Myers, who came to America with her parents when thirteen years old. Their first child, William, was born at York. Thence the family moved to Bainbridge, Pa., where they lived for some years, next moving to a place called Stewardsville; near Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, where Mr. Clayberger found work driving a team. He was engaged on the construction of Bell’s tunnel. After driving for several years he moved to Aristes (Montana), near CentrP ¡
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CHARLES LINCOLN CLEAVER, publisher of the Mount Carmel Daily News, first saw the light of day on May 3, 1861, in Locust Township Columbia Co., Pa. He is an admixture of Scotch Irish, English Quaker, Holland Dutch and English, the first two from the paternal side, and the latter two from the maternal, and of nearly two centuries of American growth. He grew up on the farm and received his education in the public schools, the Bloomsburg State Normal school, the Wyoming Seminary at Kingston, and the Dickinson Law School at Scranton. On Sept. 1, 1881, he married Mary Jane Perry, a descendant of the Commodore, and came to Mount Carmel in August, 1884. He taught public school for sixteen years, and purchased the Daily News in 1899. In politics Mr. Cleaver is a Republican with independent tendencies, having served two years as chairman of the Republican county committee and one year as chairman of the county committee of the Lincoln party. Fraternally Mr. Cleaver is a member of the P.O.S.P ¡
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KIMBER CLEAVER was the foremost figure of his time in the Western Middle anthracite coal fields within the bounds of his calling as civil and mining engineer and geologist, in which he attained extended fame, while his reputation as an inventor and patriot was scarcely second to his standing in his chosen profession. His character was, therefore, impressed upon the history, not only of the fields of his more active operations, but upon that of his State. He was born on the 17th of October, 1814, the youngest of five children born to Joseph and Sarah Cleaver, in a little log house hewn from the virgin forests by his father soon after his marriage, in Roaring Creek township, Columbia county, Pennsylvania. Joseph Cleaver was a son of John and Rebecca Cleaver, and was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in October, 1764. His wife, Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Anna Brook, was born in Bucks county, January 5, 1774. Both were members of the Society of Friends. Anna Brook had taught school, and her intellectual endowments were of a high order, so that while her children had not the advantages of schools such as now dot the land, their minds and hearts were not allowed to develop without that careful home training which no schooling can supersede. Born near the close of America's second war with Great Britain, Kimber's mind became early imbued with that patriotic fervor which characterized his future career. His boyhood days being spent amidst surroundings not calculated to stimulate mental acquirements and before the public school system was inaugurated, his opportunities for cultivating his mind were very meager and consisted of a few months' instruction during theP ¡
(ù avoiding all inclined planes. From 1844 to 1850 he resided in Pottsville, and devoted most of his time to professional labor in Schuylkill county.
In 1850 he came to Shamokin, which he had laid out for John C. Boyd in the spring of 1835, and became associated with all the improvements of this locality. In 1850 he laid out the town of Trevorton for Judge William L. Helfenstein, and was chief engineer in locating and building the railroad uniting Shamokin with the Susquehanna river. When Trevorton emerged from the wilderness and when Shamokin had finally awakened from an incubus of years, he was appointed engineer in chief of the Philadelphia and Sunbury railroad, the collieries, and the numerous lateral roads that were constructed. Thus he labored for years, and added many improvements which stand as proud monuments to his genius. In September, 1858, he was called to Schuylkill county to make surveys in the mines at the Glen Carbon and Thomaston collieries. Being much exposed to P ¡
(ù MR. EDITOR:-
DEAR Sir.: I believe the time has now arrived when the postulatum will be admitted, that the more intelligent the people are and the better the facilities for conveying that intelligence from State to State and from nation to nation, the sooner will all distrust and jealousy subside and the human family be united in one harmonious whole. I admit "the age of steam" affords facilities for conveying intelligence very rapidly and the broad Atlantic is traversed as a mill pond and Europe is brought to be our next door neighbor, but if we can employ a messenger more expeditious and equally truthful, then it certainly is our duty as peacemakers to do so. I mean electricity, which, of all material agents that we are acquainted with, is the most fleet. Perhaps my readers will entertain some doubts as to the possibility of constructing an electric telegraph across the broad Atlantic, but only tell a Yankee boy that the project is impossible and he will be sure to try it. Neither do I view it asP ¡
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Pottsville, Penna.

This letter shows that while Morse's telegraph depended on an electromagnetic force, the plan of Mr. Cleaver is entirely electrical.
Mr. Cleaver also invented a very ingenious car box, designed to economize oil in the lubricating of car axles; the spiral shute; the coal hammers, designed to supersede rollers in the preparation of coal; a cast-iron lock for canals, and a new mode of framing in place of mortise and tenon, which he carried out in the erection of two first- class model breakers at Locust Gap. A few months prior to his death, while engaged in sinking shafts and driving tunnels on the Luke Fidler property, Mr. Cleaver formed the design of preparing a work on the mining of coal, in which he proposed treating the subject in both a geological and practical manner. Had he lived to publish the book it would doubtless have been of great advantage to the mining interests. The fruits of his mechanical genius entitle him to a prominent position in the list of great American inventors, and as long as the rugged mountains yield the sparkling anthracite to enliven and make comfortable the firesides of millions of homes, as long as they furnish the material for generating the motive power which propels the machinery of thousands of industrial works, his name will live and be held in grateful remembrance.
Mr. Cleaver did not possess the elements essential to political success in these latter days, but would have been admirably adapted to the Jeffersonian age, when honesty and capacity were the standard that measured a man's fitness for office. He was honest, not because it was the best policy, but because it was right. He would rather suffer a hundred defeats than compromise a single principle. He had no such word as expediency in his vocabulary, but in its place in shining letters was to be found that other word, principle. Had Mr. Cleaver lived in the early days of the Republic, his talents would have been better appreciateP ¡
(ù hands were busy many hours while others slept. He was a total abstainer from alcoholic beverages, and was known far and wide as an earnest advocate of temperance. (History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, edited by Herbert C. Bell, Published by Brown, Runk & Co. of Chicago, Ill, 1891 pg. 862 Transcribed by Tammy L. Clark)

REV. T. O. CLEES, deceased, was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1839, son of Frederick and Hannah (Obern) Clees, natives of the same county and of Scotch-Irish extraction. He spent his early days upon a farm, and at the age of fifteen years he began learning the cabinet maker's trade, which he followed for a time. He received his education at Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport, from which he was graduated in 1865. From this date to 1868 he was principal of the high school at Montoursville, Pennsylvania. He joined the Methodist Episcopal church in 1856. March 11, 1868, he entered the East Baltimore Conference, and was appointed to the Watsontown charge with Rev. Henry Wilson. He afterwards served the Washingtonville charge. He was married, November 10, 1870, to A. Tillie Andrews, daughter of John Andrews, a native of Columbia bounty, Pennsylvania, who removed to Montandon in 1868. From 1873 to 1876 Mr. Clees had charge of a church at Elysburg; from 1876 to 1879 he preached in Columbia county, where he was assigned to the Orangeville charge and built three churches at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars. In 1882-84 he preached at Selinsgrove and Shamokin Dam, where he also completed a church. From here he went to Town Hill and soon after retired from active ministerial duties on account of failing health. He was a pioneer of the Prohibition party and one oP ¡
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ABRAM CLEMENS, son of Abraham and Lucy Ann (Heilman) Clement, was born Sept. 12, 1850 in Lower Augusta Township, where he attended school. When twelve years old he went with his father to Milton, where he continued his studies for a time, and he remained with his father until his marriage, living at Mooresburg for six months. In 1871 he came to his present farm in East Chillisquaque Township, the Andrew Kurtz place on the road between Milton and Danville. This property he bought in 1885. It comprises about seventy acres, and a fine limestone quarry is located on the tract. In addition to farming Mr. Clement has done an extensive business burning lime, which is very plentiful on his land, finding a ready market for the product in his immediate vicinity. He has prospered by hard work and strict attention to business, and he enjoys the esteem of his neighbors, whom he has served in the office of school director. In politics he is a Democrat, in religion a member of the Lutheran ChurchP ¡
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PETER CLEMENS, son of Abraham and Lucy Ann (Heilman) Clement was born Oct. 29, 1841, in Lower Augusta Township. He was educated in the public schools and brought up to farm life, which he has followed most successfully. When twenty-three years old he enlisted at Philadelphia in Company I, 112th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served almost two years, lacking only a few days of that period. Returning to his home county after the war he was married March 27, 1866, to Caroline Brouse, daughter of Samuel Brouse, of Snyder County, later of Northumberland County, and then located in Point Township. He did laboring work for one year, in the spring of 1867 moving to Montandon, where he resided a few years, until the spring of 1870. He has since farmed in Point Township, where he rented land for twenty years, in the year 1889 settling on his present place in that Township, a fifty-acre acre farm of good limestone soil, where he has profitably followed general farming and tracking. ForP ¡
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CHARLES M. CLEMENT, a lawyer of Sunbury and now deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth, was born in Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, October 23, 1855. His father was General John Kay Clement, one of the leading criminal lawyers of Pennsylvania, and his mother was Mary S., daughter of Isaac Zeigler, once a prominent merchant of Sunbury. General Clement died, October 15, 1882, at the age of sixty-three years. Charles M., his only son now living, was educated at Sunbury Academy and Burlington, New Jersey. After leaving school he clerked six years in the prothonotary's office, read law with his father, and was admitted to the bar, March 11, 1878. In January following he began the practice and was associated with his father until the death of the latter. Mr. Clement has been one term assistant burgess of Sunbury and five or six years a member of the borough council, was for several years borough solicitor, and is now solicitor for the school board. October 1, 1887, he was appointed by Charles W. Stone corporation clerk of the State departmP ¡
(ù was appointed by Governor Beaver to his present position. From 1879 to 1883 he was secretary of the county central committee, Republican, and from 1883 to 1888 was chairman of the committee. He was one of the organizers of the Sunbury Guards, Company B, Twelfth Regiment N.G.P., entered the service as a private, and was promoted in regular order to the captaincy, a position to which he has been twice chosen, first in 1882 and secondly in 1887. Mr. Clement is a member of the Sons of Veterans, Sons of the Revolution, Knights of the Golden Eagle, and the S.P.K. He was married at Northumberland, November 19, 1879, to Alice Withington, and has three children: John Kay; Martin W., and Charles Francis. (History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, edited by Herbert C. Bell, Published by Brown, Runk & Co. of Chicago, Ill, 1891 pg. 831 Transcribed by Tammy L. Clark)
COLONEL CHARLES M. CLEMENT, a prominent and influential lawyer of Sunbury, is a son of Gen. John Kay Clement, whose biographical sketch immediately precedes this, and was born in Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pa., October 28, 1855. He acquired a good education in the academies at Sunbury, Pa., and Burlington, N. J. Leaving school at the age of seventeen years he accepted a position as a clerk in the prothonotary's office and continued as such for six years. He then read law in the office of his father and after his admission to the bar, on March 11, 1878, he began practice, being associated with his father until the latter's death. He made a thorough study of legal principles and had the happy faculty of applying them to practical every-day business affairs. He soon acquired a good clientage, and has also succeeded to that of his father. His practice is general, but is in the main corporation law. He is attorney for the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania, of which he is also president; attorney for the Shamokin Valley Telephone Company, and for the Shamokin & Mount Carmel Electric Railway. From April, 1891, to April, 1898, he was associated in practice with the Hon. S. P. Wolverton,a gentleman of distinction, whose life is recorded elsewhere in this Book of Biographies. Col. Clement is a firm supporter of the Republican party and has frequently been called upon to serve in official capacity. For several years he was a member of the council of Sun-bury and was assistant burgess for one term. He was also borough solicitor and solicitor for the school board for several years, and is solicitor for the overseers of the poor. On October 1, 1887, he was appointed corporation clerk of the State Department by Charles W. Stone, and on November 29, 1890, was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in which capacity he served with credit. From 1879 to 1883 he served as secretary of the countP ¡
(ù one of the organizers of the Sunbury Guards, Company E, 12th Reg., N. G. P., in 1877, entering the service as a private, and was promoted in regular order to a captaincy, an office to which he was three times elected—in 1882, 1887, and in 1892. In 1896 he was elected Major of the i2th Regiment and in 1898 was elected Lieutenant-Colonel. Volunteering for service against Spain, he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the I2th Reg., Pa. Vol. Inf., which was mustered out of service October 28, 1898. Col. Clement's eldest son, John Kay Clement, seventeen years old, was a corporal in Company E of the same regiment. On November 19, 1879. Col. Clement was united in marriage to Alice Withington, a daughter of Martin J. D. Withington, and they are the parents of four sons, John Kay, Martin W., Charles Frances and Theron Ball. Socially, Col. Clement is a member of the Sons of Veterans, Sons of the Revolution and the Society of the War of 1812. He also is a trustee of the Mary M. Packer HospitaP ¡
(ù GEN. CHARLES M. CLEMENT, a leading lawyer of Sunbury, was born there Oct. 28, 1855, son of Gen. John Kay Clement. His ancestors were Friends, the Clements having been prominent members of that Society in England.
Gregory Clement, the earliest ancestor of whom we have record, was a member of Parliament in 1646 and was one of the famous body of Regicides, and with four others was hanged. When Gregory Clement was arrested, in 1660, his son James escaped, and emigrating from his native land came to America, landing on Staten island. Subsequently he located near Camden, in Camden (then Gloucester) County, N.J. He became a large land owner and surveyor and his descendants also followed that occupation for a number of generations. He married Sarah Field, and their children included a son Jacob.
Jacob Clement, son of James, married Ann Harrison.
Samuel Clement, son of Jacob and Ann (Harrison), married Rebecca Collins, a granddaughter of Francis Collins, who came to America in 1678, locating in New Jersey, where he became a man of distinction. He served for a time in the capacity of judge and was a member of the Provincial Legislature of New Jersey.
Samuel Clement (2), son of Samuel, married Mary Foster.
Evan C. Clement, son of Samuel (2), was born in Camden County, N.J. He was associated with his father in the manufacture of glass and became a man of considerable means. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, serving as sergeant major. He passed all his life in his native County, where he died in 1827 at the comparatively early age of thirty-seven. He married Hannah Kay, great-great-granddaughter of John Kay, the first settler of the name in America, who came over in 1683, was speaker of the Provincial Assembly of New Jersey for several years, and one of the council P ¡
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CHARLES WOLVERTON CLEMENT, attorney at law, of Sunbury, Northumberland County, is a native of that place and a member of one of its most prominent families. His grandfather, Ira T. Clement, long the most influential man in this section, was a man who not only acquired means and position by his own efforts, but also brought advantageous industrial enterprises into the region which benefited the entire community.
Joseph Clement, Mr. Clement’s great-grand-father, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He died on Staten Island, New York. In 1805 he married, in Sussex. County, N.J., Hannah Hazen, and they had three children: Augustus, who married Caroline Lyons and died in Sunbury; Sarah, who first married a Mr. Hazen and later became the wife of Dr. Woodbridge, and raised a large family; and Ira T. Mrs. Joseph Clement married for her second husband Solomon Smith.
Ira T. Clement, born Jan. 11, 1813, in New Jersey, was a young child when brought by his mother to NorthumberlaP ¡
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FRANCIS CLEMENT, son of Benjamin, was born Dec. 8, 1875, in Jackson Township, was reared on the homestead, and has followed farming there all his days. He now owns the old homestead place, the property at present comprising sixty-eight acres, and is regarded as one of the thoroughly progressive young agriculturists of his district. Peter Clement, his grandfather, built the barn on this farm, and the other buildings were erected by Benjamin Clement, father of the present owner. On Oct. 11, 1908, Francis Clement married Alice Tressler, daughter of William Tressler, of Rockefeller Township. Mr. and Mrs. Clement are members of the United Evangelical Church (Peifer’s) at Mandata. Abraham Clement another son of Peter, the pioneer in Northumberland County, was born April 6, 1816, in Lower Augusta Township, where he lived for a time, later moving to Milton and thence to Mooresburg. He was a miller by trade, and followed farming also, living with his son Peter, however, for some years befoP ¡
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HENRY CLEMENT, the only son of Ira T. Clement who survived him, is still a resident of Sunbury, where he was born, in what was then Upper Augusta Township, Sept. 4, 1838. When a mere boy he commenced clerking in his father’s store, and he was always associated with him in his lumber and manufacturing interests, for many years before his father’s death being with him in the management of his entire business. He stepped into a busy career, but he has proved himself well adapted to its demands, as his capable management of his various interests shows that he not only inherited the business but the ability to look after it to advantage. He was one of the pioneers in the West Branch lumber industry, but though thoroughly progressive he is conservative and has a reputation for sound judgment which makes his opinion on business questions highly valued. Though his time is well taken up with his private affairs he has found time to serve the borough as councilman. He is a Republican in poliP ¡
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GENERAL JOHN KAY CLEMENT, deceased, was born at Philadelphia, January 1, 1820, son of Evan and Hannah (Kay) Clement. His father died when he was but seven years of age. He was educated at the Friends' school in his native city, read law under Richard Howell of Camden, New Jersey, and was admitted to the bar at Trenton in l841. Shortly afterward he located in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, residing at Minersville and Pottsville, and removed to Sunbury in l854. He possessed great ability as a lawyer, and was an orator of exceptional eloquence and power. Among the official positions with which he was honored were those of brigadier general of the State militia, to which he was appointed while a resident of Schuylkill county; district attorney of Northumberland county which he was elected in 1859 and 1871 and appointed in 1877; and provost marshal of the Fourteenth Pennsylvania district from 1862 to 1864. In 1854 he married Mary S., eldest daughter of Isaac and Mary (Eyer) Zeigler, of Sunbury; Charles M. Clement, deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is their only surviving son. General Clement died at Sunbury on the 15th of October, 1882. He was a Republican in politics, a member of the Masonic fraternity, and a vestryman in St. Matthew's Protestant Episcopal church at the time of his death. (History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, edited by Herbert C. Bell, Published by Brown, Runk & Co. of Chicago, Ill, 1891 pg. 825 Transcribed by Tammy L. Clark)
GENERAL JOHN KAY CLEMENT, deceased, was one of the most prominent criminal lawyers of the state of Pennsylvania, and participated in many of the most famous cases tried in the section in which he lived. He lived at Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pa., where he acquired a very extensive practice, mainly criminal, and was for many years a well-known figure in the public eye. He was a son of Evan C. and Hannah (Kay) Clement, and was born in Philadelphia, Pa., January 1, 1820. Gen. Clement descended from a prominent family of Quakers in England, the earliest ancestor of whom we have any record being Gregory Clement, who was one of the famous body of Regicides and with four others was hanged. When Gregory was arrested in 1660, his son James escaped and emigrated from his native country to America, landing on Long Island. He subsequently located in Camden County, N. J., near Camden, where he founded the village of Clementon nearly 150 years ago. He became a large landowner and surveyoP ¡
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IRA B. CLEMENT, son of Benjamin, is engaged in farming in Rockefeller Township, where he has a valuable place of 135 acres. He is a native of Jackson Township, born Sept. 2, 1863, and was reared to farming, in his early manhood hiring out among farmers until he reached the age of twenty-five. In the spring of 1889 he began farming for himself on the Daniel Holshue farm, in Lower Mahanoy Township, where he was a tenant for fifteen years. He then farmed the Israel Byerly place near Hickory Corners, in the same Township, for a period of two years, in the spring of 1906 moving to his present farm, in Rockefeller Township, which was formerly the Jared Snyder place. Mrs. Clement was reared on this farm. It is nicely located and in an excellent state of cultivation, Mr. Clement being an intelligent, industrious farmer, ranking among the substantial citizens of his Township. He is serving at present as one of the members of the school board. Mr. Clement is a Democrat in political matters, P ¡
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IRA T. CLEMENT, late of Sunbury, was a leading citizen of that community to the close of his long life, which covered a period of over eighty-five years. In his day there was scarcely a more conspicuous figure in the development of the borough and the surrounding territory, and his descendants are classed among the most valuable citizens there today. His interests as merchant and manufacturer not only brought to him means and influence, but were also the means of enhancing the industrial facilities of the entire region. A man of strong character, of progressive disposition, of foresight, he combined the possession of all these traits with sufficient enterprise to launch and carry through the various undertakings he felt could be successfully prosecuted in this section. His sons in time engaged in business with him, and in the activities of various members of the family the position of the Clements among the most prominent residents of this section has been well sustained.
JosephP ¡
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