Crawford County, Pennsylvania


History & Biography
1885
Part V:  Biographical Sketches

MEADVILLE

page 709
      S. J. AFFANTRANGER, livery and sale stables, Meadville, is a native of the Keystone State, and has seen as much of the globe as Gen. Grant, having been in every State and most of the Territories of the Union, has made three overland journeys to California, and has been in most foreign countries; he has been three times over the Atlantic Ocean, and has circumnavigated the globe, settling down at last in his native State.  He is a quite man, attending strictly to his business, in which he has been successful.  He has been a frequent contributor to the newspapers of Meadville.  He makes it a rule never to be in haste to be rich, great or wise.  In politics he is a Democrat; is a member of the Town Council.  He was married first in Virginia, and again after the death of his first wife in 1862, having lived a widower sixteen years.  Mr. and Mrs. Affrantranger have four children—Celia, Virginia, May A. and Edward J.  Our subject is a son of John and Josephine (Earnest) Affantranger, natives of Switzerland, and who had to work three years to pay the man who paid their passage to America.  They had thirteen children, nine of whom grew up, our subject being the sixth.  He first learned blacksmithing, at which he worked for several years.  He then owned and conducted a carriage factory in Indiana for eleven years.  Since 1873 he has lived in Meadville.  He was born in this county, April 7, 1826, and here expects to stay until higher powers call him away.
pages 714-15
      GEORGE BENNINGHOFF, retired farmer and oil producer, Meadville, was born in Clearfield County, Penn., April 3, 1825, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Heist) Benninghoff, who were of German ancestry.  His father was first a hatter by trade, was in later life a farmer, and succeeded at one time in accumulating a fortune of $300,000.  He was a resident of Venango County, Penn., fourteen years, and before his death lived in Greenville, Penn., where he died in 1882.  He had twelve children, who were all at their father's funeral but one, who was sick at the time.  The father and all his sons were Republican in politics.  George Benninghoff, the eldest of the family, received a common school education in Venango County, Penn., was reared on the farm, and for several years pursued agriculture with success, commencing on fifty acres of unimproved land in Venango County, which he cleared up.  In 1861 he purchased a farm in Mead Township, and removed to Meadville in 1880.  From 1860 to 1883 he was engaged as an oil producer, since when he has been retired.  He was married in 1848 to Julia A., daughter of John Baney, a prominent farmer of Venango County, Penn.  They have five children:  Almena Helen, wife of E. L. Affantranger, farmer; Lewis Nelson, farmer in Sugar Grove, Mercer County, and who was also in the oil business for sixteen years; Livingston, a farmer; George E., a practicing physician of Bradford, Penn.; Julia M., wife of C. E. Morgan, of Cleveland, Ohio.  Mrs. Benninghoff is a member of the Presbyterian Church.  Politically our subject is a Republican.
page 719
      HON. GAYLORD CHURCH (deceased), late President Judge, was among the most prominent citizens of Crawford County, Penn.  He was born in Otsego, N. Y., in 1811, son of William and Wealthy (Palmer) Church.  His parents, who were natives of Connecticut and of English descent, came to Pennsylvania in 1816, settled in Mercer County and there followed farming.  Our subject, who was the second son in a family of six children, was reared on the farm and attended the Mercer Academy; studied law with Hon. John J. Pearson, who was afterward President Judge of the Twelfth Judicial District of Pennsylvania.  He was admitted to the bar in 1834, and the same year came to Meadville, w here he spent the remaining portion of his life, dying here in 1869, loved and respected by all who knew him.  He was a Democrat in politics.  In 1837 he was appointed Deputy Attorney-General of the district, and in 1840 was elected to the Legislature, serving two terms.  In 1843 he was appointed President Judge by Gov. Porter of the Sixth  Judicial District, consisting of Erie, Crawford and Venango Counties, and served till 1851, when the office became elective.  He then resumed his law practice till 1858, when he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court by Gov. Packer, to fill a vacancy.  He was married in 1837 to Anna B. Pearson, of Mercer, Penn., a daughter of Bevan and Ann Pearson, who were members of the Society of Friends.  This union was blessed with eight children, six of whom at present survive.  Judge Church and wife were members of the Episcopal Church, of which he was a Vestryman many years.  His widow still survives him and resides in Meadville, while the family are among the leading ones of northwestern Pennsylvania.
page 743
      HENRY HARTMAN, blacksmith, Meadville, was born in Vernon Township, this county, in May, 1824.  His parents, Jacob and Barbara (Marsh) Hartman, were natives of Switzerland and came to American in 1817, and to this county in 1820, where they resided until their death.  Mr. Hartman was married in March, 1848, to Phebe L. Morris, a daughter of John Morris.  They had seven children, all of whom are living and are residents of Meadville with the exception of the eldest daughter, Mrs. E. P. Clark, Vassar, Mich.  Mrs. Hartman died November 1, 1880.  Mr. Hartman began his trade in Meadville in 1842.  In 1845 he went to Wisconsin and after remaining there two years returned to Meadville, where he began business for himself, which he has continued in the same place to the present day.  He and his son carry on an extensive blacksmith shop on Dock Alley.
page 746
      SAMUEL W. KEPLER, proprietor of the Kepler House, Meadville, was born in this county, June 19, 1821, son of Jacob and Margaret A. (Peiffer) Kepler, the former a native of Maryland, and eldest son of Peter Kepler, who located in LeBoeuf Township, Erie Co., Penn., in 1798, the latter a native of Pennsylvania.  Jacob began his business career in 1817, in Woodcock, this county, conducting a hotel there for twenty-one years, at same time keeping the postoffice.  He was the father of thirteen children.  In 1843 he abandoned the hotel business and removed on a farm in Hayfield Township, this county, where he remained about twenty-six years, and then came to Venango and opened a tavern.  Much of his time was occupied in the manufacture of domestic wines.  He served through the war of 1812.  He died in 1877, in his eighty-fourth year.  His widow still draws a pension from the government.  Our subject married, in 1843, Christine, daughter of Michael Sherred, of this county, and to this union were born seven children, five now living:  Pharus D., Peter S., E. Cassius, Frank P., and Thomas.  In 1860 Mr. Kepler married (for second time), Martha C., daughter of Maj. Reuben Strouss, of Saegertown, this county, and seven children were the result of this union, five now living—Edgar, Tracy, Anna, Mattie and Frederick.  Our subject commenced business in 1853 by opening a hotel at McKean Corners, Erie County, where he remained two years; then moved to Venango, this county, and there kept hotel until 1860.  Following five years he spent in Titusville, Penn., in same line of business, and then for three years operated a farm in Woodcock Township, this county.  In 1868 Mr. Kepler took charge of the Eagle Hotel, Meadville, and at different intervals kept two other hotels, till 1879, in which year he opened the Kepler House.  Our subject and family are members of the Unitarian Church; he is a member of the A. O. U. W., E. A. U., and I. O. O. F., Encampment D. D. G. P.
page 748
      PROF. ABIEL ABBOT LIVERMORE, Meadville, was born in Wilton, N. H., October 30, 1811, second son of Jonathan and Abigail (Abbot) Livermore.  His grandfather, Jonathan Livermore, was the first minister of the town, and his great-grandfather of the same name reached the age of one hundred years and seven months.  Our subject passed his boyhood on the farm, attended the district school, and encountered the usual experiences of a country lad.  At the age of fifteen he left home to attend school in Chelmsford, Mass., and afterward was prepared for college at Philipps Academy, Exeter, N. H.; entered Harvard College in 1830, and graduated in 1833.  In June, 1883, he celebrated with fourteen of his classmates the fiftieth anniversary of their graduation.  The next three years after graduation were passed in the Cambridge Divinity School in preparation for the Christian ministry.  After the usual candidating, he was ordained November 2, 1836, over the Congregational Unitarian Church in Keene, N. H.  He was married May 17, 1838, to Elizabeth Dorcas Abbot, daughter of Rev. Jacob Abbot, of Windham,  N. H., who died in South Boston, Mass., September 13, 1879.  Though not blessed with children, several young persons were brought up in their family and were cherished with parental love.  Prof. Livermore was invited in 1850, after a happy ministry in Keene, to settle over the Unitarian Church of Cincinnati, Ohio, and he removed to that city in May.  In 1856 he was invited to New York to the editorship of the Christian Inquirer, and at the same time became pastor of the Unitarian Church in Yonkers, N. Y.  These offices he filled till 1863, when he was invited to the Presidency of the theological school in Meadville, Penn., which he still holds.  The works which Mr. Livermore has published are a "commentary" on the whole New Testament in six volumes, "The Mexican War Reviewed," a prize essay of the Peace Society, a volume of "Discourses," "A Marriage Offering," and occasional sermons, addresses and reviews.  The latest publication was in 1884, called "Anti-tobacco."  It looking over the changes and chances of so many years he finds one great lesson written over all his life, of gratitude to God and sympathy with mankind.  On June 18, 1883, he was married to Mary A. Moore of Meadville.
page 756
      WILLIAM PENTZ, Justice of the Peace, Meadville, was born April 2, 1820, in York, Penn., and is a son of Daniel and Rachel (Shaffer) Pentz, both natives of York, Penn., and of German descent; came to Meadville in 1845.  His father was a tobacconist and came to this county in 1856, remaining three years.  He raised a family of eleven sons and one daughter.  Eight of the sons are now living; one was killed on the railroad in 1871 in Meadville.  William received his schooling in his native county and learned first the trade of his father, but afterward that of a plasterer, and also carried on butchering for eight years.  In 1870 he was appointed Court Crier; in 1872 he was elected Justice of the Peace, serving till 1877.  In 1878 and 1879 he was Superintendent of the Odd Fellows' Home in Mead Township.  In 1882 he was again elected Justice of the Peace and still holds the office.  He was a member of the Council of Meadville Borough 1850, 1851 and 1852.  He was married in 1841 in Allegheny City, to Mary A. Campbell, a native of Kentucky and of Irish parentage.  They have six children living:  Mary E., wife of John M. Jones, of Arizona; Rosa, wife of A. B. Blystone; Margaret J., wife of Frederick Cole, of Greenbush, Mass.; W. H., a carpenter in Meadville, married to Thyphena Peese; Sarah, wife of L. K. Johnston, and Emma B., at home.  The family all belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Pentz has been for many years a local preacher, and in 1866 and 1867 was on the Circuit.  He has been Deacon in the church for many years.
pages 765-66
      A. B. RICHMOND, attorney, Meadville, was born in Switzerland County, Ind., April 26, 1825, son of Lawton and Sarah (Townsend) Richmond, natives of New England, of English descent, and is a direct descendant of John Richmond, the Puritan, who came over in the Mayflower.  His grandfather, William Richmond, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.  Lawton Richmond, subject's father, was a practicing physician and surgeon in the war of 1812.  After the war he followed his profession in Indiana until 1834, when he removed to this county and practiced medicine until his death, which occurred in 1843.  He was also a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and preached the first Methodist sermon in Chautauqua County, N. Y.  He was parent of three daughters, who died young, and two sons, H. L., a prominent lawyer of Meadville, and A. B.  Our subject attended Allegheny College, and then took a medical course and practiced for three years in Meadville, during which time he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1851.  He has found his medical knowledge of much service in his law practice.  Mr. Richmond is one of the most noted criminal lawyers in this State, having been employed in over 4,000 criminal cases, sixty-five being homicides.  He is also an expert mechanic, and can make a clock or steam engine.  In 1853 he was appointed Assistant Director of machinery at the Crystal Palace.  Mr. Richmond has delivered many scientific lectures on philosophy, physiology and chemistry, making his own apparatus for illustrating his subjects.  He has been a prominent temperance lecturer and author for many years; was State Commissioner for Pennsylvania at the World's Fair, 1866.  He is author of the great temperance work, "Leaves From the Diary of an Old Lawyer," which contains "Intemperance and Crime" and "Court and Prison;" also a temperance novel, "A Hawk in an Eagle's Nest," which have received the highest commendation from the press, and an extensive circulation.  Our subject was married September 7, 1848, to Mary Jane, daughter of Levi Morris, of this county, and by this union were born three sons:  Louis L., jeweler in Meadville, married to Miss Winnie Day, of Ohio (have two children, May W. and George D.); Hiram M., deceased, married to Miss Margaret, daughter of Daniel Fowler, of Meadville (had one daughter, Margueritee [sic] F.); and Maj. Charles E., on the Governor's staff, now reading law with his father.
pages 767
      ARNOLD RUSSELL, engineer, Meadville, is an old and well-tried railroad man, having served the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad for twenty-one years, and during all that time has never been called to the Superintendent's office for any misdemeanor or for any accident.  He was born at Honesdale, Wayne Co., Penn., October 23, 1845, and is a son of Gaylord and Esther (Walton) Russell, of German and Irish descent.  His father, who was a farmer, raised a family of six children, of whom Arnold is the fourth.  Our subject received his education in his native county; in his eighteenth year he went on the railroad as fireman, and was running an engine before he reached his majority.  For several years he ran a construction train on which he was both engineer and conductor.  Since 1865 he has been first-class engineer on passenger trains.  He is always prompt and ready for duty, and in twenty-one years has never missed a pay-day.  He was married in 1866 to Miss Nancy, daughter of William Adams, a native of this county and of English descent.  Their children are:  Lizzie, Mabel, William Henry and Robert Stanley.  Mrs. Russell is a member of the Park Avenue Congregational Church.  In politics he is Independent.  During the war he enlisted in a Pennsylvania regiment, but it was not called into active service.  He is a prudent  man and carries an insurance of $7,000 on his life.  He is also owner of a farm of ninety acres in Hayfield Township, this county.  He is a member of Knights of Pythias, the A. O. U. W., and of the American Legion of Honor.