HISTORICAL SKETCHES
of the Bench and Bar of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
[Contents] [Last-Part 18] [Next-Part 20]
Deceased Resident Members of the Bar
(V - Z)
Otho William Vanderlin
O. William Vanderlin was a lifelong resident of Lycoming County. Born February 3, 1920, he was a son of Otho Anthony and Antoinette Dever Vanderlin. He grew up in the Newberry section of Williamsport. After his marriage to Phyllis Meck in 1949 and the arrival of their children, the young family moved to Loyalsock Township, where he resided at the time of his death.
He graduated from Williamsport High School in 1938; Dickinson Seminary (now Lycoming College, Pennsylvania State University and the Dickinson Law School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He received a degree in industrial administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
During World War II, Mr. Vanderlin served in the Navy in the Pacific as a supply officer and was part of the forces which occupied Japan after its surrender in August 1945.
Bill Vanderlin graduated from Dickinson in 1950 and returned to Williamsport where he served as a Law Clerk for Judge Charles Williams. Later in 1950, Vanderlin joined Joe McNerney and Allen Page in the practice of law. Their office was located on the second floor of the Williamsport National Bank Building at 329 Pine Street.
Mr. Vanderlin was admitted to practice before courts of Lycoming County in 1950. He was also admitted to practice before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Superior Court and Commonwealth Court, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. In the early 1970's, after Pennsylvania enacted legislation providing public employees the right to bargain, he served as a hearing examiner for the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. During the 1980's he served on Pennsylvania's Prevailing Wage Board.
Bill Vanderlin was a member of the Lycoming Law Association, the Pennsylvania and American Bar Associations, the Williamsport Country Club, Olde Hickory Country Club, Fort Myers, Florida, and the Oaks and Wheel Clubs.
His practice at McNerney, Page, Vanderlin & Hall concentrated in the areas of labor relations public and private, municipal law and hospital law. He provided legal counsel to employers in labor negotiations, contract disputes, arbitrations and proceedings before the National and Pennsylvania Labor Relations Boards. In addition to Pennsylvania employers, he represented employer clients in Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, New York, Vermont and Canada.
He served on the Boards of Directors of Little League Baseball Incorporated, Divine Providence Hospital, Providence Foundation, Woolrich, Inc. and Data Papers, Inc. He was counsel for Little League since 1972 and the hospital both before and after the creation of the Susquehanna Health System.
Mr. Vanderlin was Solicitor for the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority, the Williamsport Sanitary Authority and the Lycoming County Authority. He was active in the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association and Chairman of its Labor Relations Committee. He was a member of the Government Affairs Committee of the Williamsport Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.
He was a member of St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church.
In 1983, he became President of the Lycoming Law Association succeeding his law partner, Charles J. McKelvey. His campaign theme "throw the rascal out" was unanimously endorsed by the Association's members.
O. William Vanderlin died at home on Thursday, January 7, 1999.
Joshua W. Walbridge
Lyman Walbridge was born near Springfield, Massachusetts, February 1786, a son of Joshua Walbridge, a soldier of the Revolution, who was born 1758. Lyman was reared on a farm, received a good education and taught school for a number of years in his native state, and then moved to New Jersey, where his son, Joshua W., was born in Harlengen, January 25, 1827. Joshua’s parents left New Jersey in 1836, and moved to Delmar Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania, where the father died August 17, 1862. They were the parents of five children: William; Elizabeth; Joshua W.; John W.; and Robert S.
Joshua grew up in the wilds of northern Pennsylvania and when he was twenty-one years old, he entered the Wellsboro Academy, from which he was graduated at the age of 28. He commenced the study of law in 1859 and three years later was admitted to the bar. According to the Muncy Luminary of November 4, 1862 he was then an attorney-at-law in Muncy with offices on the Plank Road one door east of Charles Mozley’s store, so he must have been admitted in Lycoming County some time prior to that date. He succeeded Judge J. J. Metzger as district attorney of Lycoming County in 1865 and served for three years. He married Drusilla Smith, the third child of Alexander M. and Elizabeth (Schuyler) Smith, who came to Lycoming County from Columbia County in 1827. They had one child, Lewis Boyd Waibridge.
In 1874, he and his family moved to Colorado, but did not reach Routt County until the summer of 1881, when he located on Fortification Creek and became the first postmaster of the camp which was established there to work the placer mines. Afterwards he homesteaded a piece of land near Hayden. In 1885 he was elected county judge and held that office for seven years, to the credit of himself and the satisfaction of the people. His son, Boyd, be came the owner of several ranches and was president of a bank in Meeker, Rio Blanco County, Colorado.
Judge Walbridge died at his home in Steamboat Springs, the county seat of Routt County, Colorado, April 7, 1910. He had been ill but a day. In the issue of April 13, 1910, the Steamboat Pilot presented a lengthy account concerning his life in the West. The senior member of the bar, Mr. McClelland, spoke of Judge Walbridge as a lawyer and judge:
“Judge Walbridge was eminently a pioneer. He was a pioneer in Pennsylvania. He lived there before they began to build rail roads. He blazed the trail through the forests. When I came here he was county judge. When he was placed in that position there were no enduring records of that court. Its only book consisted of a single day book about half filled with records, which has since been destroyed. His first care was to provide the court with proper record books and see that they were properly opened. From that time we have a perfect record of that court, a monument of his industry and integrity. He systematized the whole office before he left it. When he left the office he left a record that was un sullied by any act of unjustice or oppression. From the time he left the bench he was among us at the bar, and paid particular attention to one branch of the law. . . .A history of the progress of the bar of this part of Colorado, without a history of Judge Waibridge would be a history of Greece without a history of Lysander, of Rome without Caesar.
“He came from that part of Pennsylvania from whence came the Camerons, Gibson, Wilmot and Grow. In his early life he knew all of these. He came from the mountain fastnesses, where all nature conspired to make sturdy men, strong of mind, of body and of character.”72
Jonathan Hoge Walker
Jonathan H. Walker was born in 1756, in East Pennsboro Township, near Hogetown, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He was of English descent. His grandfather, William Walker, was a captain under the Duke of Marlborough in Queen Anne’s War, and John Hoge, his mother’s father, was the founder of Hogetown. He spent his boyhood years in Cumberland County. When still a young man he served in the Revolutionary War. He entered Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., and was graduated September 26, 1787, in the same class with David Watts, and the Rev. John Bryson, who afterwards became pastor of Warrior Run Presbyterian church for fifty years. Mr. Walker studied law and was admitted to the Northumberland County bar at the May Sessions, 1790. He married Lucretia, a daughter of Stephen Duncan, and in September 1791, located at Northumberland arid engaged in the practice of his profession. Here his distinguished son, Robert J. Walker, was born July 19, 1801.
Mr. Walker appears to have practiced in Lycoming County as well for he was admitted to our bar in March 1798. In April 1806, having been appointed Judge of the fourth district, Judge Walker removed to Bellefonte. After living there for several years Governor Snyder proposed to transfer him to the Northumberland district, but he was so popular the people of Bellefonte offered him every inducement to stay and the Grand Jury in a body asked him to decline the Governor’s offer. General Benner offered him the money to build any kind of a house he liked and a lot to built it upon. He accepted the General’s offer, and built the stone house later owned by Mrs. John Blair Linn and still later by her children, Miss Mary Hunter Linn and Henry B. Linn.
He was the first Judge of the United States Court for the western district of Pennsylvania, which was created by Act of Congress of April 20, 1818, having been appointed by President James Monroe.
When he was appointed to this position, he took leave of the people of the fourth district in an excellent letter addressed to them from Bedford, dated July 24, 1818, in which he said: “The tie which has bound us together for upwards of twelve years is broken, but the most intimate tie of affection can never be dissolved.” After alluding to the kindness received, and some of the events of his earlier life, he stated some maxims which he endeavored to conform to in his judicial career. One of these was, “For this reason it was my invariable practice to avoid all political association and meeting of every kind and nature. This maxim is considered as important for a Judge as for a minister of the Gospel. A party and electioneering is the greatest curse that ever fell upon a free people. Public satisfaction cannot be given nor public confidence inspired. If he were as pure as the ermine of an apostle, his motives would often he suspected, his motions jealously watched, and his most virtuous intentions constantly thwarted. I pity such an unfortunate judge.”
Judge Walker died while on a visit to his son, Duncan, at Natchez, Mississippi, in January 1824. His daughter, Martha, born in Bellefonte in 1807, married General William Cook, of New Jersey. His son, Robert John Walker, was born July 19, 1801, at Northumberland. He too was a lawyer and became a noted financier and political economist. I have been unable to discover whether there was any relationship between these two Walkers and Robert Jarvis C. Walker, whose sketch immediately follows.
Robert Jarvis C. Walker.
Robert J. C. Walker was born in Chester County October 20, 1838. He was admitted to the Philadelphia bar, October 20, 1859, where he continued to practice until 1878, when he removed to Williamsport, having been admitted to our bar to No. 163, September Term, 1877. In 1880 he was elected a Representative to Congress from the XVIth district, but declined to be a candidate for a renomination. During his term of office the bill to authorize the erection of the present United States government building in Williamsport was passed.
Mr. Walker became acquainted with William Weightman, often known as the Quinine King, and married his daughter Anne M. Weightman. William Weightman was born in Waltham, Lincolnshire, England, September 30, 1813, a son of William and Anne (Farr) Weightman. At the age of sixteen he came to the United States, at the suggestion of his uncle, John Farr, a chemist, who was the founder of the firm of Farr & Kunzi in 1818. John Farr was the first to manufacture sulphate of quinine, and was devoting himself to an investigation of cinchona bark alkaloids at the time Pollatier and Gaventon announced the discovery of quinine, in 1820.
Mr. Weightman was in the employ of Farr & Kunzi until 1836, when Kunzi died, and Mr. Farr admitted Thomas A. Powers and Weightman to partnership until the firm name of Farr, Powers & Weightman, which continued until the death of Farr in 1847, when the firm became Powers & Weightman, a name which acquired an international distinction. In 1878, Powers died. Then in 1883, Mr. Weightman admitted his two sons, Dr. Farr Weightman and Dr. William Weightman to the partnership, until they too were removed by death. Finally in 1893, he admitted his son- in-law, Robert J. C. Walker, to the firm, which firm continued until Mr. Walker’s death in 1903. In January 1904, Anne M. (Weightman) Walker was admitted as a partner and shared the tremendous responsibility of this immense business with her aged father, William Weightman, who died in 1904. Anne M. W. Walker continued to operate the business until December 1904, when it was consolidated with a competitor, Rosengarten & Sons. She was by this time considered to be one of the wealthiest women in the United States.
Robert J. C. Walker an William Weightman then owned much of the real estate of Peter Herdic, who had failed in the panic of 1873 for more than $1,000,000. These holdings included the Weightman block, the Park Hotel, the Trinity Place block, and the Market House block among other holdings.
Robert J. C. Walker died December 19, 1903, a resident of Philadelphia, where he and his wife then resided. Mrs. Walker later married Frederick Courtland Penfield, and she died February 25, 1932. It has been said that the management of the affairs of this estate was largely instrumental in the success of Archibald M. Hoagland, of our bar, who was local counsel for Mrs. Penfield. I can well remember walking along Chestnut Street, in Philadelphia, and seeing the neat signs, one “Hampton L. Carson, Attorney-at- Law” and the other beneath it, “William Weightman Estate”.
Ellis Walton
Ellis Walton, the second Prothonotary of Lycoming County, and likewise Register and Recorder, was born on his father’s farm near Muncy, September 21, 1771, and died in office November 9, 1813. On attaining his majority, he studied law with Charles Huston and afterwards married Mr. Huston’s sister, Jane. He was admitted to the Lycoming County bar on motion of Jonathan Walker and Daniel Smith at the December Term 1799. He was also a County Commissioner, and succeeded by John Borrows as prothonotary in the fall of 1813. He was the one who had a controversy with John Kidd regarding the manner in which Kidd conducted his office.
At his death he left three daughters and one son. His eldest daughter, Martha L., was remarkably bright and intelligent, and at the age of eight years went into the prothonotary’s office with her father and assisted in recording deeds, for he was recorder as well as prothonotary. No doubt she is the youngest person to have ever actually worked in the former court house.
Kristine L. Waltz
Kristine L. Waltz was born in April 26, 1957 in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Carl and Anita Waltz. She was one of twins, and was survived by her twin brother Kevin and two older brothers, Tom and Steve Waltz. She died unexpectedly on December 22, 2019.
Kristine graduated from Jersey Shore Area High School in 1975, Lycoming College in 1979 and went on to graduate from the Temple University School of Law May 27, 1982 with a Juris Doctor degree. On motion of Lycoming County Judge Robert James Wollet, she was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar on November 12, 1982. She was admitted to the Lycoming County Bar on motion of John Pietrovito the same year. He first employer was Judge Wollet - she served as his law clerk.
Kristine practiced Law in Lycoming County for 36 years. After her stint with Judge Wollet, she joined the firm of Cander, Youngman, Gibson & Gault, where she practiced law in the litigation area. Later, whe joined the firm of Elion Wayne, Griego, Carlucci, Shipman & Irwin, P.C. At the time of her death, she was a shareholder in the firm of Dinges, Dinges & Waltz, LLC, working in the wills & estates, guardianship and business & commercial areas.
Kristine was the wife of Stephen Sorage - the two married in April 1993 - and the mother of two children, Stephanie and Sarah.
Kristine was a member of First Church, Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Kristine had a love for music and was active in the music program at Lycoming College. She was also active in the Williamsport Chamber Choir and Orchestra and her church choir.
Kristine donated her time to assisting the mock trial team of the Montoursville Area High School. She enjoyed volunteering her time with the staff and working with the youth on their presentations and their understanding of the Law.
Kristine loved to help others and was able to use her professional expertise by bringing a program, Wills for Heroes, to Lycoming County. This program provides wills to first responders and veterans, free of charge. In December of 2020, the Association issued a Proclamation renaming the event in Kristine Waltz's memory.
After her death she received recognition for her pro bono efforts. In January 2020, she was awarded Lycoming County’s Honorable Thomas Wood Jr. Equal Access to Justice Award for her acceptance of pro bono referrals for guardianships, mortgage foreclosures and other out of the ordinary civil cases. At the same time, she was presented with a Pennsylvania Bar Association Pro Bono Award.
She served as Lycoming Law Association treasurer in 1992-93.
William Lee Waltz
William Lee Waltz, the second son of Gottlieb and Fannie G. (Randall) Waltz, was born in Williamsport about 1880. He was reared in his native city, attended the public schools and was graduated from the Williamsport High School in 1900. He read law with Reading & Allen, and was admitted to Lycoming County bar in 1902. In February 1904 he was elected a member of Select Council, and was the youngest ever elected to that responsible position. He was president of his high school class and also president of the Waltz Family Association. He was a member of Baptist church, the Lycoming Law Association, and Brandon Lodge No. 1007, I.O.O.F Williamsport.
John George Waltz, the emigrant ancestor, left Germany with his wife and two sons, Michael and George, June 9, 1804, and after a long voyage arrived at Philadelphia, September 18th following. They settled on a farm below Warrensville, in Blooming Grove, and the parents are interred in the private grounds of the original location. The eldest son, Michael, was the pioneer of the “Mountain branch” of the family so called because he settled on the mountain and cleared a farm. The younger son, George, was the pioneer of the “Mill Creek branch”, so called because he settled in the valley.
George Waltz followed farming throughout his active years. He settled on the farm in the valley, where he and his wife, whose maiden name was Catharine Kiess, reared a family of children: Samuel, John, George, William hereinafter mentioned, Abraham, Doley, who married William Kiess, and Catherine, wife of Abraham Kiess.
William Waltz, of the third generation, was the fourth son of George and Catharine (Kiess) Waltz, and married Mary Herr, born in Blooming Grove, daughter of George Herr, who came to this country from Germany. After their marriage, William and his wife settled on a farm in Upper Fairfield Township. They were members of the Baptist faith. Mr. Waltz was a Democrat, with the single exception that he cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln. He died January 16, 1885, and his wife died March 20, 1876. They were the parents of eleven children; of whom the sixth was Gottlieb. Gottlieb married Fannie G. Randall, born in Cogan House Township, a daughter of Orin Randall, born in Oxford, Chenango County, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Waltz settled in Williamsport, where he engaged in constructing and building for more than thirty years, and during that time erected many of the leading buildings of the city.
The children of Gottlieb and Fannie G. (Randall) Waltz were: William Lee, the subject of this sketch; Oman H.; George R.; Carrie W. Ehman, and Abbie W. Kent. Gottlieb Waltz died March 8, 1933, and his wife died March 31, 1919.
William Lee Waltz was married to Anne Belle Reading, daughter of Rev. Samuel G. and Clarissa Reading, December 14, 1908. They were the parents of two sons, William and Robert.
William L. Waltz was admitted to the Lycoming County bar in 1902, and is listed in the City Directories as a lawyer until 1.910 when he is listed as a bond salesman. About that time he removed to Seattle, Washington, and there practiced law for two years, and then became connected with the Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and eventually became the state manager of that company for the state of Washington. He died there in the month of December 1952, survived by his widow and two sons.
Henry Wynkoff Watson
Henry Wynkoff Watson was born at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, October 5, 1836, a son of Rev. James C. and Margaret L. Watson. He was graduated from Princeton with honors in 1857. Immediately after his graduation, he entered the law office of William C. Lawson, Esq., of Milton, a prominent member of the Northumberland County bar. He was admitted to the Lycoming County bar on motion of A. J. Dietrick, November 21, 1859. By his conspicuous ability, his untiring energy, assiduous study and unfailing fidelity to the interests of his clients, he soon gained a lucrative practice. In the preparation of his cases he was a man of patient research and exhaustive industry. He was a member of the Woodward Guards, who, on April 24, 1861, answered their country’s call. He later enlisted in Company A, 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment and after serving out his enlistment, again, during the emergency caused by a threatened invasion, went to the front and served until the danger was over, with the rank of Sergeant.
He was solicitor for the City of Williamsport for eight years, and was frequently appointed by the Court as Master and Auditor in difficult matters requiring patient investigation and study.
He was twice married, first, to Mary Montgomery, who died March 25, 1871, and second, to Mary A. Cummin, daughter of the late Dr. William Cummin, of Dayton, Ohio. They were married by the father of the groom, Rev. Dr. Watson, of Milton, Pennsylvania. He died May 24, 1914, and the court appointed the largest committee on the bar resolutions that I have so far discovered, 19 in all.
James Cummin Watson
James C. Watson was the son of Henry W. and Mary (Cummin) Watson. After attending Chambersburg Academy and Princeton University, he entered the law offices of H. C. & S. T. McCormick, as a student at law, and was admitted to our bar, April 7, 1900. In a few years he gave up the practice of law, although he retained his office, and served for a time as a clerk for several governmental committees at Harrisburg. For many years he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Savings Institution as was his father before him, and a member of its Executive Committee. Jimmy was a great golfer in his day, but each evening until her death, December 30, 1931, found him in the company of his widowed mother to whom he was truly devoted. After her death he married Helen Megahan of Williamsport who survived him.
Oliver Watson, Jr.
Oliver Watson was a son of William Watson, late of Mackeynappau, Parish of Raphoe, County Donegal, who came to America on June 28, 1792. He was born November 10, 1811, on Lycoming Creek in Loyalsock Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. His mother was a sister of Colonel John McMeen, an early and prominent settler on the Long Reach of the West Branch, then a few miles west of Williamsport. When but eight years old William McMeen took young Watson to live with him. In 1826 the family moved to the forks of Pine Cheek, where the village of Waterville now stands, and there Oliver remained until 1840, when he started out to make his way in the world. He entered the employ of James Stewart to learn the blacksmith trade, served for two years, and then returned to Pine Creek and attended school for some time for the purpose of acquiring an education. He made such good progress in his studies that he was regarded as quite a good scholar, and in 1834, he taught school for six months in a building on the farm of Henry Tomb. He was then induced by George Crawford, John Cook and John Gallagher to take charge of a school near the residence of Mr. Crawford, where he taught until 1836. Mr. Crawford then advised him to study law, and acting on the advice of his friend, he came to Williamsport, and entered the office of Hon. James Armstrong. He made such rapid progress in his legal studies that he was admitted to the Lycoming County bar in 1837. During the time he was reading law he served as a clerk in the office of the County Commissioners, but resigned that position in 1838 to accept the appointment of County Treasurer, which office he filled in an efficient and creditable manner for three years.
In 1841 he entered into partnership with Hon. John W. Maynard, which firm continued for seven years, and he became a widely known celebrity. In 1848 Mr. Watson retired from the firm and associated himself with A. J. Little. This firm lasted for two years, when Mr. Little retired, and Mr. Watson practiced alone until 1856. He was then elected president of the West Branch Bank, an office he held to the close of his life. Besides many other positions, he served as president of the Market Street Bridge Company for nearly thirty years. He dealt extensively in wild lands, and at the time of his death, he also owned several fine farms. He was a successful business man, an able lawyer and a shrewd financier, and acquired through the passing years a handsome competence. For some years prior to his death he was almost totally blind, and his extensive business interests were attended to by his devoted wife.
On November 16, 1843, he married Marietta, daughter of Hon. David Scott, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., president of the first hoard of Canal Commissioners, and President Judge of Dauphin County for three years, and of Luzerne County for nineteen years. Eight children were born to this couple, two of whom died in early childhood. The six surviving children were: William S., Jennie, widow of Charles Rawle, Mary Jane who lived on the Governor Schulze farm, Emma Jane, widow of Dr. Charles Jones, Oliver, of London, England, John Hancock, of Williamsport, and Thomas, of New York City. Mr. Watson was one of the founders of Trinity Episcopal Church and vestryman for more than half a century. He died at his home, immediately north of Williamsport, September 2, 1882, in his 7 year. His aged widow moved to Williamsport after his death.
Augustus J. Webster
Augustus J. Webster was born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. He was educated in the public schools and a private academy. He studied law in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, with H. W. Williams and was admitted to the Tioga County bar in 1867. He practiced for a time at Mansfield, and then located in Williamsport in 1873. He was nominated on the Greenback and Republican party tickets for district attorney but was defeated by his Democratic rival, John Jay Reardon.73
Allison White
Allison White, the first child of James and Elizabeth (Wetzel) White, was born near Jersey Shore, December 21, 1816. The pro genitor of this prominent family was Colonel Hugh White, a son of Hugh White, of what is now Dauphin County. The name of Hugh White first appears in the list of taxables in Donegal Township, Lancaster County, in 1725. His son, Hugh, was born in Lancaster (now Dauphin) County in 1737, and settled west of the mouth of Pine Creek before the Revolution. In 1776 he was appointed a member of the Committee of Safety for Pine Town ship by the Council of Northumberland County, His commission as Captain of a company of Foot in the First Battalion of Associators of the County of Northumberland, bears the date April 19, 1775, and is signed by John Morton, Speaker.
Captain White proved himself a faithful and valuable officer, and in 1778 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel, in which rank he served for some time as Commissary, and was untiring in his efforts to provide supplies for Washington’s army.
Colonel White took an active part in civil and religious, as well as military affairs. In 1795, 1796 and 1803, he represented his district in the legislature. In 1795-6 he was ordained as one of the first elders of the Pine Creek Presbyterian Church which was organized by the elder Rev. Mr. Grier.
During the War of 1812, he was appointed Colonel of a regiment from his own neighborhood with whom he marched to Black Rock, where they remained in obedience to orders until discharged. In 1822, he was accidentally killed by a fall from his horse, and he lies buried in the old Pine Creek graveyard.
He was twice married, his first wife being Margaret Allison, daughter of John and Ann Allison, of Lancaster County, by whom he had six sons and one daughter. His second wife was Charlotte (Weitzel) White, the third child of Hon. John and Tabitha (Morris) Weitzel, and she was born at Sunbury, February 25, 1778, and died at Pine Creek October 25, 1854. Her first husband was James White, who kept a hotel at Treverton for a time, and subsequently bought what is known at White’s Island, in the Susquehanna River, near Georgetown. He lived on the east bank of the river, opposite the island, in Northumberland County. Mr. White was thrown from his wagon and killed in 1812. Although both her husbands bore the surname White, and both were killed by accident, they bore no relationship to each other. On account of intermarriages by parties of the same name, but not related, it is very difficult for the genealogist to follow the lines of descent without becoming confused at times.
Elizabeth Weitzel White was the second child of James and Charlotte (Weitzel) White, and was born December 10, 1800, on White’s Island and married, first, on March 1, 1815, James White, fifth child of Colonel Hugh White and Margaret (Allison) White, born in Pine Creek Township in 1777, and died in 1819, aged 42 years. She then married Hon. George Crawford, January 29, 1822, son of Robert and Elizabeth (Quigley) Crawford, and grandson of Major James Crawford of the Pennsylvania Line during the Revolution, and also a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1776. Judge Crawford was born in Wayne Township, Clinton County (then Lycoming), November 7, 1794, and died June 18, 1876, in his 82nd year. His wife died March 19, 1863.
The fruits of the first marriage were two sons, Allison, the subject of this sketch, and James White. Allison was given a good collegiate education, then studied law with the late Hon. James Gamble, at Jersey Shore. He was admitted to the Lycoming County bar in 1842. He then settled in Lock Haven, where he continued to practice his profession until 1856. He became a prominent politician, receiving the Democratic nomination for Congress in 1855, but was defeated by Rev. John J. Pearce, who was secretly placed in nomination by the Know Nothings, when that craze was at its heights. In 1856 he was again nominated and elected to the Thirty-fifth Congress and served one term. While in Congress he served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on the Public Buildings. At the expiration of his term he gave up the practice of law to engage in the more lucrative business of mining and shipping bituminous coal from Clearfield County, and became a member of the firm of Berwind, White and Company, of Philadelphia.
Mr. White was first married in 1841 to Miss Sarah Lawshe, youngest daughter of Abraham Lawshe, of Jersey Shore. She was born in 1821 and died at Lock Haven in 1863. In July 1870, Mr. White married, second, Mary Ogden, of Woodbury. He died at his home in Philadelphia in 1886, survived by his second wife.
Elias White
Mr. White was admitted to the Lycoming County bar, on motion of Charles Hall, in September 1798. I am unable to find anything further about him. Since Charles Hall made the motion for his admission one would think he probably came from Northumberland County, but there is no mention of him in Bell’s History of Northumberland County. It is possible that he may have come from Lancaster or York County, the former home of many of our early lawyers.
George W. White
George W. White, second child of Col. Hugh and Charlotte (Weitzel) White (see supra under Allison White), was born near Pine Creek in November 1816. He was educated at Allegheny College, Meadville, receiving the degree of A. B., in 1837; A. M., 1840. He went to Alabama in 1837 and taught school there for several years. He returned to Williamsport, studied law and was admitted to this bar some time after 1839, where he practiced with success. He served as solicitor for the County Commissioners, and was at one time urged to become a candidate for president judge. He married, April 10, 1851, Annie Elizabeth Parker, daughter of Rev. Joel Parker, D. D., of Philadelphia. He served in the 11th Regiment, P. V., Company D, known as the Williamsport Rifles, as a private, at the outbreak of the Rebellion, April 24, 1861.
It is the pride of this county that the first companies she gave to the country formed a part of a regiment that not only served during the first three months of the war but was reorganized under the same number for the duration of the war and achieved a noble and enviable record for gallant service and heavy losses.
The companies from Lycoming County were mustered in, April 24, 1961, at Harrisburg. In May the regiment was engaged in duty along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. On June 18th it joined the forces under General Patterson at Chambersburg, soon after moving to Downstown, and next to Williamsport on the Potomac. Crossing into Virginia, the Eleventh became engaged at Falling Waters with the enemy under the future “Stonewall’ Jack son, whose force they routed handsomely, compelling them to leave eight of their dead on the field. Among the Union men killed was Amos Zoopinger, a member of Company H from Danville. Hon. H. C. Parsons stood near the brave Zoopinger when he fell. The regiment voluntarily remained beyond the length of its enlistment and were warmly commended in general orders.
Mr. White died at his home in Williamsport, December 31, 1867.
Henry White
Henry White, the fourth and youngest child of Col. Hugh White and Charlotte (Weitzel) White was born near Chatham’s Run, now in Clinton County, August 8, 1821. He was educated at Grier Academy, and at Meadville, now Allegheny College, studied law with his brother, George, and was admitted to this bar, but did not follow his profession very long. He entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, Robert S. Bailey, in United States mail and stage contracts, at the time a profitable business. Their route was from Williamsport to Clearfield and Jefferson counties. When the stage was superseded by the railroads, he engaged in the lumber business and became a member of the well known local firm of White, Lentz and White.
At one time he was located at Freeport, Pennsylvania and during the years 1849-51 was interested in a line of packet boats plying between Pittsburgh and Kittanning, and also a stage coach route from the last named point to Clarion. During his residence in Freeport, he was awarded many contracts for public works.
Henry White married, first, Catherine Anthony, daughter of judge Joseph Biles Anthony, and she died about 1860. There were three daughters by this marriage, Isabella, Mrs. J. C. Brennen of Philadelphia, Mary I., Mrs. James M. Gamble and Josephine, Mrs. C. Lame Munson. He married, second, Martha Covell, of Elmira, New York, daughter of Robert and Almira (Baldwin) Covell. Mr. White died March 7, 1880, in his seventieth year, survived by his widow, who passed away May 15, 1905.
Asalph S. Wilkinson
Mr. Wilkinson was registered as a student at law to No. 230, December Term 1898, and was admitted to the bar to No. 237, June Term 1901. He died July 26, 1912, and according to his will, left his mother, a brother, Dr. Truman G., and another brother, James S.
Clyde E. Williamson
Born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1903, Clyde E. Williamson was the son of Leander and Annette Grow Williamson.
Mr. Williamsons attended Williamsport Public Schools and Dickinson College from which he graduated in 1925. Then in 1933 he decided to go back to law school and attended Temple University Law School, and graduated with a LL.B.
He practiced Law in Philadelphia from 1933 to 1936. In 1936, he returned to Williamsport, where he practiced Law until 1979, when he moved to York, Pennsylvania. There he practiced with his son-in-law Wentworth Darcy Vedder and his grandson, Clyde Williamson Vedder in the law firm of Morris, Vedder, and Ream until November 1986, when he retired due to his health.
Mr. Williamson was admitted to the federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States.
Mr. Williamson was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Williamsport Area Community College from 1965 until 1973. He was the Solicitor for the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority from its inception in 1947, until he moved to York in 1979. Similarly, he was Solicitor for the Williamsport Sanitary Authority from 1952, when it was created until 1979.
He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of York. Williamson was also a member of Texas and Blockhouse Fish and Game Club of Lycoming County.
In 1962 Williamson received the annual Lycoming United Fund Citation for outstanding achievement in Social Welfare and in 1965 he received the Grit Publishing Company Award for Meritorious Community Service.
Clyde E. Williamson died February 9, 1987, in York.
Adolphus D. Wilson
According to Meginness, Mr. Wilson was one of the early members of this bar, and served as deputy attorney general from 1843-47. He married a daughter of General William Petrikin, of Bellefonte. Mr. Wilson built a brick house on the southwest corner of Willow and Pine Streets, afterwards owned by Judge Smith, Soon after the completion of the house both Mr. and Mrs. Wilson died within a short time of each other. I can find no Orphans Court file of either estate in Lycoming County.
John M. Wilson
John M. Wilson was admitted to our bar to No. 252, March Term 1895.
Samuel C. Wingard
Samuel C. Wingard, a member of our bar, moved to Oregon and later became a U. S. Judge according to Meginness.
James M. Wood
James M. Wood was born in Duchess County, New York, educated in the common schools and Waverly Academy. He studied law with Thurston, Hart & Bean, of Elmira, New York, and was admitted at Binghamton in 1861. He located at Williamsport in the spring of 1862, and served as Major of the thirty-seventh regiment during the Civil War composed largely of men from Lycoming County.
The Republican party elected him the first mayor of Williamsport when it became a city in 1866. The act of the Pennsylvania Legislature which changed Williamsport from a borough to a city went into effect on January 16, 1866. However, the first mayoralty election under the new charter did not occur until May 16. Consequently, the hold-over Burgess Samuel M. Crans acted as mayor for four months. He was the Democratic nominee for that office, but lost by 104 votes to Mr. Wood. Crans was a tailor, noted for “keeping poor preachers well clothed”, while Mayor Wood was a Civil War veteran and a lawyer. He died of softening of the brain in the winter of 1889, at Atlantic City. His remains were brought home and laid to rest in Wildwood cemetery. He was about fifty years of age.
Thomas Wood, Sr.
Thomas Wood, Sr., was born at Muncy, Pennsylvania, June 5, 1883, the son of William Jacob and Elizabeth Updegraff (Peterman) Wood. His paternal ancestor, James Wood, the emigrant, came from Northern Ireland, where his family had lived on an estate called “Ardui”, between Belturbet and Ballyconnell. Ballyconnell is due west of Belturbet and about eight miles from Lough Erne.
Captain John Wood who married Isabella Bruce, said to have been a sister of Robert the Bruce, was given forfeited lands in Ireland as a reward for his military services, while fighting with King William at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. He originally came from Wales. His son, James, was born in Ireland about 1710 (old style), and emigrated to America in 1731. He first settled in Upper Paxton some six or seven miles from Harrisburg. Then in 1737, he with five or six others made one of the first settlements in Cumberland County. He settled on Sporting Hill, near Hogetown, a few miles north of Carlisle. He died February 24, 1751, and is buried in the Silvers Spring Presbyterian graveyard, near Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
George Wood, the oldest son of James Wood, was born in 1732. He was known in the family annals as “George of Tuscarora”, as he lived in that valley. He married a Miss McMeen, a sister of Col. William McMeen. George died May 27, 1807. His third son, William, was born about 1775, and died November 15, 1813, at Pennsborough (now Muncy). He was married June 23, 1808 to Grezel Dunlap, daughter of John and Robina (Allen) Dunlap. Grezel was born August 28, 1777, three months and six days before the Battle of Chestnut Hill, where her father was mortally wounded. She died at Muncy, June 10, 1834. Robina Allen’s mother was Grezel Orr. This connection of Orrs were Protestants and hence friends to the republican government, and were also for the independence of Ireland, i.e, a united Ireland. Grezel’s brother was the father of William, the exile, and John Orr, who came to America about 1773. It appears that John Orr and his nephew, William, were particularly active in the Irish Rebellion of 1799, which resulted in the uncle John and his nephew, William, being sent to Botany Bay in chains. Being chained thus together, the uncle died on shipboard. The other nephew, John, was the one who finally succeeded in getting his brother, William, released. After some years he escaped and was shipwrecked, in 1809, on a desert island. Another member of the Orr family, also William by name, was hung at Carrickfergus on October 14, 1798, for his part in the united Irish movement. In fact there is a well known poem entitled, “A Lament for William Orr,” still to be heard in Ireland.74
Thomas Wood, farmer (so-called to distinguish him from his uncle, Dr. Thomas Wood), was born January 21, 1810, on his father’s farm about midway between Thompsontown and Millerstown, on the south side of the Juniata river. He moved with his father to Pennsborough, and then when he was less than four years of age, his father died. His mother, Grezel Dunlap Wood, brought him up on his father’s farm near Muncy, and she died June 10, 1834. Thomas Wood, farmer, married March 25, 1834, Margaret Dimm Beeber, daughter of Col. Jacob and Mary (Dimm) Beeber. All of the Beeber ancestors and Christopher Dimm (who was born aboard ship coming to America) served in the Revolution. They had two sons and two daughters, of whom William Jacob was born June 28, 1839. William Jacob Wood died in 1914.
Thomas Wood, Sr., the subject of this sketch, attended the Muncy public schools, and was graduated from Bucknell University, A.B., 1905; A.M. 1906, and from the University of Michigan Law School in 1907. For some time he taught school at Braddock, Carnegie Institute of Technology and Muncy Normal. He was also an instructor at Bucknell, and author of a textbook on grammar and composition. In 1911 he was admitted to the Lycoming County bar, and began to practice alone, and later entered into partnership with John G. Reading, Jr. After the death of his partner in 1937 he again practiced alone, until he formed a partnership with his sons, William H., and Thomas Jr., with offices in Muncy and Williamsport.
Mr. Wood helped to form the Robinson Manufacturing Company in 1901, and served at various times as its President and Treasurer. He was also Treasurer of the Muncy Woolen Mills, and the Muncy Furniture Company. He was an active Democrat and served as postmaster in Muncy from 1915-23. In 1924 he was a candidate for Congress. He was active in bond drives in World Wars I and II. Mr. Wood married a Bucknell classmate, Blanche Stoner, daughter of H. H. and Emma Stoner, of Alverton, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on June 2, 1910. They were the parents of four sons, and one daughter.
All four Sons were in the second World War, and his youngest son, James, a Lieutenant, XII Corps of General Patton’s Third Army, was killed in Germany. March 9, 1945 was the date of the incident which caused his death according to a comrade, John W. Garrison, of Williamsport, when Jim’s jeep was blown up by a land mine. William Flenry Wood, a member of our bar, is now located in Harrisburg, where he served in several state departments, and is now a member of the firm of Hull, Leiby and Metzger. Thomas, Jr. is likewise a member and Past President of the Lycoming Law Association. The daughter, Fannie R. Wood, is the wife of Rodney Brown, a chemist, and the remaining son is Harry Peterman Wood.
Thomas Wood, Sr., was a member of the Pennsylvania and American Bar Association, and served as President of the Lycoming Law Association in 1940. He was an elder in the Muncy Presbyterian Church, Past Master, Muncy Lodge No. 299, F. & A.M., member of Baldwin II, Commandery, No. 22 K.T., I.O.O.F., President of the Williamsport Lions Club, the Muncy Alumni Association, and a member of the Muncy Historical Society, Boy Scouts, Lycoming County Community Chest Council, and the Community Trade Association. He died August 20, 1947.
Edwin Parson Young
Mr. Edwin P. Young was a son of John Mumma and Carrie (Van Patten) Young. He was born in 1871, was admitted to our bar in 1895, and practiced at Towanda, Pa. He died in 1949.
John Mumma Young
John M. Young was born in Middletown, Ohio, August 30, 1845, the son of William and Eliza (Mumma) Young. The family was of German descent. David Young emigrated to this county and settled in Pennsylvania in the early days. William Young was born in Hanover, Pa., in 1803, and died there in 1889. He spent most of his life in the mercantile business at Middletown, Ohio. His wife was born in York County, Pa., and died February 4, 1848. Their children were: Mary R., wife of William Schreyer, of Milton, Pa., where she died in 1876; and John M., the subject of this sketch.
After completing his early education in Middletown, Ohio, and Hanover, Pa., John M. Young attended Gettysburg College, being a member of the class of 1865. He later attended the Harvard Law School, and subsequently practiced law in Topeka, Kansas, and York, Pa. He was admitted to the Lycoming County Bar in 1879. Soon after coming to Williamsport, he engaged in manufacturing. He was one of the organizers and general manager of the Williamsport Iron and Nail Company, founded in 1883; president of the Williamsport Railway Company; president and treasurer of Sweet’s Steel Company; and a director of The First National Bank of Williamsport, Pa.
During the Civil War, Mr. Young enlisted in 1861 with the Pennsylvania Border Guard at Hanover, Pa. His second enlistment was in 1863, with the Twenty-Sixth Regiment, P.V.I. The following year he re-enlisted and served as a member of Captain E. B. Sanno’s Cavalry Company, attached to the First Virginia Cavalry Corps.
On August 25, 1868, Mr. Young married Carrie Van Patten, a native of Washington, D. C., and a daughter of Charles H. and Amelia Caroline (Harper) Van Patten, natives of New York and Pennsylvania respectively. Mrs. Young was a direct descendant of Charles Frederick Van Patten, one of the founders of the city of Schenectady, New York, and she was also related to Carl Hansen Toll, a member of the Colonial Congress from New York, in which he served thirteen years. On her mother’s side she was a descendant of the Harpers who traced their ancestry back to 965. She was also descended from John Harper, who came to America from England with William Penn in the Welcome, and settled at Frankford, now a part of Philadelphia.
Mr. and Mrs. Young were the parents of eight children among them being Edwin P. Young and Ruth Young Alien, mother of Ruth Young Allen Youngman, wife of John Crawford Youngman, Sr., a member of this bar, and William Young, whose sketch appears below.
Judge William Young
William Young was the second child of John M. and Carrie (Van Patten) Young. He was born at Topeka, Kansas, April 23, 1870. He was admitted to the Lycoming County bar on April 5,1894, and practiced here until 1898, when he removed to New York City.
He was graduated from the Williamsport Dickinson Seminary and in 1893 from Cornell University. All of the Young boys were noted athletes at Cornell. After moving to New York, he became a Judge of the Children’s Court, until 1934 when he retired because of ill health. He married in 1907, Helen Schermerhorn, of Philadelphia, who survived him and also a daughter, Elizabeth Young Mankiewicz Reynal, and a son, William, Jr. Mr. Young died at Williamsport, June 14, 1936, where he came to live after his retirement.
George Washington Youngman
The pioneer ancestor of George W. Youngman was Johann Ditrich Jungmann, whose grandparents on his father’s side had been driven out of France on account of their religion. Johann was at one time Burgess of Hochensheim in the Palatinate, near Mannheim, Germany, and was also a teacher of mathematics and vocal music for adults. His first wife died in 1725, leaving a son, John George, who was then five years old. In 1731, Johann Ditrich, with his second wife and children, sailed on the ship Love and Unity, an ill-fated ship, which landed at Martha’s Vineyard, near Boston, after over one hundred of its one hundred and fifty passengers had died on board ship. Jungmann’s wife and three small children died of starvation on board. Only John George and his father survived. At Martha’s Vineyard they were taken care of by the Indians until May when they embarked in the ship Norris, Thomas Loyd, Master, from Boston, and arrived at Philadelphia, and took the oath of allegiance, May 15, 1732.75
In part, John George’s autobiography reads as follows:
“Supplied with provisions for twelve weeks, we sailed from Falmouth, England, where we stayed three weeks and where we loaded up many necessary things. Twelve days after our departure from this place, the captain assured us that we had covered half of our Journey, which revived our courage. After that we had a calm, followed by a severe storm, which raged exceedingly. After having traveled eight weeks, water and bread were curtailed, and during the last six weeks we received no bread, and nothing else from the captain than daily a pint of water for my father, my sister and myself. From this one can infer how we lived. Every sensitive heart will shudder when I say that rats and mice and the above mentioned water was our only food. A rat sold for 1½s., and a mouse for 6d. The captain thought all the passengers had many valuables with them. Hence he did not want to land us, but left us to starve to death, in which he had a large measure of success for out of 156 souls only 48 reached America, and hardly a person would have survived, if the remaining passengers had not revolted and seized the captain. Whereupon after three days, in the week before Christmas, we landed not far from Rhode Island, after spending 25 weeks on this journey. . . I was in such a miserable condition that I could not stand erect, but almost crawled on hands and feet.”
They were met in Philadelphia by the mother of John Ditrich who had sailed for America five years before. She had been living in Holland previous to coming to America. They settled in Oley Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, and it was here that Johann Ditrich married his third wife, reared his family and built his home. He obtained a patent from the Penns, for 165 acres of land, which was surveyed in 1735. The deed required him to pay on May 1st of each year one-half penny sterling for every acre of land.76
From his will, probated in Philadelphia County, February 18, 1745, we find the names of his children, all of whom were born in Oley, except John George born of his first wife. John George, born April 19, 1720, married September 4, 1745 (0. S.) to Mrs. Anna Margaretha (Bechtel) Buttner; Thomas, who married Catharine: Elias, who was born August 15, 1738, married Catharine Nagle; Eva Apolona, married Peter Schneider; Mary Elizabeth married Peter Knab of Oley; Catharine, a spinster; Joseph, unmarried; Susanna, wife of Conrad Shoemaker; Phillipona, wife of Michael Platner; and Margaret, wife of Peter Ludig. Johann Ditrich and his third wife, Mary Elizabeth, are both buried near their home in Oley.
Elias Jungman planted the roots of the Youngman family in Sunbury where he leased a home, located at about 333 Market Street, on October 28, 1776. In 1781 the entire Ensign McMeen tract was assessed to Elias Youngman as uncultivated land. He resided in Turbut Township before going to Buffalo Valley, and in 1777 his name appears in the list of grand jurors of the Northumberland County Court, and is there spelled Younkman. In 1778 he was again a grand juror.
The Ensign McMeen tract had been surveyed in March 1769 by William Maclay, deputy surveyor general, under a special warrant from the Penns made for the benefit of the officers of the French and Indian wars, in accordance with the officers’ petition at Bedford.
In 1792 Elias laid out a town which for many years was called Youngmanstown (or Younkman’s Settle in German). By the first of March 1793 Mr. Youngman had sold thirty-two lots and fifty-six out-lots. Meanwhile east of the Youngmanland, George Rote, owner of the Ensign Foster warrant, had laid out a town known as Rotestown or Rhodestown. In 1827 these two towns were incorporated into a borough by an act of assembly, and the consolidated town was called Mifflinburg, in honor of Thomas Mifflin, the first Governor under the Constitution of 1790.
By his marriage to Catharine Nagle, he had three children, Catharine, Thomas and George, who intermarried with the Withington, Dreisbach, Pontius and Shoemaker families of Buffalo Valley. Mrs. Youngman was the daughter of George Nagel, Sheriff of Berks County, in 1772.
Elias Youngman conveyed to the Lutheran and Reformed church trustees the lot upon which the Elias church was built. They had worshiped prior to that time at the Dreisbach church which was built in 1788. The only place of worship in Mifflinburg prior to the Elias church had been the old German school house which stood at what is now Fifth and Green Streets.77
Elias Youngman died April 17, 1817, and his wife, Catharine, (born April 4, 1743) died January 23, 1822. They were the parents of three children: Thomas, who served in the War of 1812, and who lived and died in the town his father founded; Catharine, who married John Dreisbach, and George who became prominent in municipal affairs of the town. The 1793 tax lists of Northumberland County show as residents of Youngmanstown: George Youngman, storekeeper; Thomas and Elias Youngman. On March 17, 1796, George Youngman was commissioned a Justice of the Peace. In 1798, the post office was established and George Youngman was commissioned the first Postmaster on April 1, of that year. He was succeeded by his brother, Thomas, October 1, 1802.
George Youngman married Elizabeth Pontius. He died May 6, 1843. One of his children was Elias Pontius Youngman.
Elias P. Youngman was born in Mifflinburg, the son of George and Elizabeth (Pontius) Youngman, in 1795. I n April 1831, his parents moved to Nippenose Valley, where they took charge of the farm and grist mill of John Henry Antes, Jr., the eldest son of Colonel Henry Antes. Henry Antes had erected a grist mill in Swamp Creek, and gave the proceeds of his farm to support one of the first Moravian schools, where he employed John G. Youngman and his wife as teachers. John Henry Antes, Jr., married Elizabeth Shoemaker, of Muncy, and owned and operated a ferry, as well as the grist mill on Nippenose Creek. The Antes had nine children born and reared at the old homestead at the mouth of Nippenose Creek, and in the shadow of Fort Antes. There is an interesting story in connection with the courtship of Elias P. Youngman and Amelia Antes. Amelia was the fourth child of John Henry Antes, and was born October 20, 1796. Her father had adopted an orphan girl named Nancy Gritner, who was about the same age as Amelia, and they grew up together, doing dairy work and house work just as though they were sisters. Amelia was naturally handy with her needle so that her father’s attention was attracted, and he determined to send her away to be educated. (A girl’s education in those days consisted of skilled work). Mr. Antes heard of a woman named Betsy Rannels (Reynolds), who “carried on mantua making and millinery” at Jaysburg, ten miles down the river; so to her he decided to send Amelia to be apprenticed for six months, or a year, as the future would warrant. There being no roads at that time (circa 1812) except the Indian trail, Mr. Antes built a raft on the river, upon which he placed Amelia and a heifer to pay for her expenses, while she was mastering the mysteries of the trade, and the float was then poled to its destination. Previous to leaving home, Amelia had always worn linsey-woolsey, but while away in “society”, she followed the styles and dressed in calico and on the morning after her return home she came downstairs arrayed in a tidy, neat outfit, at the sight of which Nancy bursted into tears, bawled and got hysterics, and Amelia was sent back to her room to put on her home spun. Such pride and extravagance could not be tolerated, and Nancy’s feelings must be respected. Home soon became so uncongenial that Amelia sought and gained consent to visit her aunt, Amelia Youngman, who lived near Youngstown (now Mifflinburg), where at a small gathering, she met Elias P. Youngman, whom she soon afterwards married, and bore him thirteen children.
Their love affair gave extreme satisfaction to all concerned, and in due time a great cavalcade accompanied the prospective groom to Antes Mill, where the wedding took place amidst a scene of great rejoicing, after which the whole party rode horseback to the home of the groom to attend the “infair”,78 which was celebrated in great style. The distance between these two points was over fifty miles and this incident shows the expertness of both sexes at horseback riding in that day. So after all, Amelia could credit her “society” clothes which she no doubt had worn in Youngman's town for her romance, which perhaps might not have happened had she been wearing linsey-woolsey.79
In 1839, Elias P. Youngman was appointed by Governor David Rittenhouse Porter as Register and Recorder of Lycoming County, and after the adoption of the Constitution of 1838, he was the first man elected to that office. He appointed his son, George W. Youngman, as Deputy Recorder. Elias P. Youngman died before September 9, 1864, the date letters of Administration was issued in his estate to his son, George W. Youngman. Amelia appears to have died about 1857.
George W. Youngman, the eldest of thirteen children of Elias Pontius and Amelia (Antes) Youngman, was born at Youngmanstown, June 30, 1819. As stated above, he served as Deputy Register and Recorder under his father, and it was while he was serving in that capacity that he attended the Latin School kept by Rev. J. P. Hudson and read law in the office of the Hon. Anson V. Parsons, being admitted to the Lycoming County bar, in August 1842. On March 26, 1844, he married Anna Elizabeth Ludwig, daughter of Samuel Ludwig, of White Deer valley, Lycoming County. That year he bought the property known as the Youngman Block on Pine Street, and in 1857, erected the brick building, (326-342 Pine St.). In 1857 he also bought a farm of two hundred acres west of Lycoming Creek and laid out a development known as Youngmans Addition, in the seventh ward.
After his father’s death, he purchased the interest of the remaining members of the family in the homestead farm on Antes Creek, built a sawmill and organized the Nippenose Woolen Mills. He was the principal stockholder and president until the company was dissolved after the panic of 1893.
He resided for twenty-five years at his Pine Street home, and then moved to his farm west of Lycoming Creek. He served as a school director for six years, and filled many other minor offices. He was one of the original stockholders of the Williamsport Bridge Company and the Wildwood Cemetery Company, the Williamsport Water Company, and organized the Society of Independent Order of Good Templars.
Although he was reared as a Democrat, he became a Republican in order to espouse the abolition of slavery and as a protection to American industry. He became an independent and staunch supporter of the Greenback currency and incontrovertible bond monetary system and believed in supporting those issues before the public regardless of the name of the party upholding them. He was a candidate for judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County on the Greenback ticket in November 1878, but was defeated by Judge H. H. Cummin.
To George W. Youngman and wife were born nine children: Alonzo, a farmer; Samuel Ludwig, lawyer, see post; George W., Jr., a manufacturer; William Ludwig, a merchant in N. Y. City; James M., an attorney in Williamsport, see post; Mary L., widow of James L. Mahaffey; and Charles Worman, M.D., father of John C. Youngman, now a member of our bar. The remaining two children died in childhood about the time of the Civil War.
On March 26, 1894, Mr. and Mrs. Youngman celebrated their fiftieth anniversary of their marriage. The occasion was observed without ostentation by the family, but during the day many friends and relatives called to pay their respects and congratulate them on their golden wedding day. A number of appropriate tokens of remembrance were received, including congratulatory letters from friends residing in other states. Noteworthy among them was an anniversary ode written by a grandson, William Sterling Youngman, then a student at Harvard.
Mr. Youngman was quite successful in his law practice but had retired from active practice prior to his golden wedding anniversary. He died July 13, 1895. His wife, Anna E., died September 24, 1894. She was born August 18, 1818, at the home of her grandfather, Hon. Henry Ludwig Worman, Amityville, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Her parents, Samuel and Susanna (Worman) Ludwig, removed from Philadelphia, and settled at New Columbia, Union County, where they died. She and Mr. Youngman were married from the residence of her brother-in-law, Colonel James Moore, near Lewisburg, Pa., by the Rev. Isaac Grier.
James Moore Youngman
James M. Youngman was born September 2. 1852, a son of George W. and Anna E. (Ludwig) Youngman. He was educated in the public schools, Dickinson Seminary and Williamsport Commercial College. He read law with his father and brother, Samuel L. Youngman, and was admitted to our bar in June 1876.
In 1884, he married Ella M., daughter of John R. Hinkle, of Williamsport. They had three daughters, Florence A., Adaline, now Mrs. L. Stuart Young, and Dorothy, now Mrs. Walter C. Freed. They were members of Grace Methodist Church. Mr. Youngman was Secretary of the old Board of Trade, an organizer of Nippenose Park Association and Democrat. He died October 3, 1929, survived by his wife and daughters.
John Crawford Youngman, Sr.
John C. Youngman, Sr. was a lifelong resident of Lycoming County, having been born to Dr. Charles W. Youngman and Margaret Porter Youngman on January 25, 1903, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Williamsport High School in 1920; from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in 1924; and from Harvard Law School in 1927.
Mr. Youngman was admitted to the practice of law in 1927, to the United States District Court for the Middle District Of Pennsylvania in 1931, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1932, and to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1985. He was District Attorney of Lycoming County in the years 1932 through 1935, and was President of the Lycoming Law Association in 1939.
He practiced law upon his admission as an associate with Max L. Mitchell. In 1943 he formed the law firm of Candor, Youngman, Gibson with John G. Candor, and Harry R. Gibson. The firm was later joined by J. Neafie Mitchell and John C. Gault in the practice of law in 1946 and 1948 respectively and with his son John C. Youngman, Jr. in 1959.
For many years, even after retirement, John Youngman would attend the annual admission ceremony at which he would invariably be called upon by the President Judge to tell of his own admission to the bar in 1927. It seems that his proud mother was in the audience observing the ceremony, while Youngman stood before Judge Harvey Whitehead with his sponsor, Max Mitchell. Two ladies were in court to observe the proceedings that day, and Mrs. Youngman heard the one say to the other, "See that lawyer up there - that's that Max Mitchell. He's a good lawyer. He'll get that young fellow off." The story never failed to elicit a hearty laugh from the gathered crowd.
John Youngman began and led the fight for dikes in Williamsport in the 1930's and continued until the same were completed in 1952, saving Williamsport from the ravage of flooding in subsequent years. He was an environmentalist who fought to clean up the pollution of the Susquehanna River basin, was a founding member and President of the Pennsylvania Sportsman Association. He fought for the building and implementation of the Sewage Treatment System for Williamsport in the 1940's. He was appointed as Chairman to the Williamsport Sanitary Authority in the 1940's.
He was Chairman of the Community Chest Campaign for Lycoming County, was a fifty year Mason, and a member of the Ross Club.
John Youngman was a member of the Grays Run Club. He was an ardent fly fisherman, who loved Antes Creek and instituted the cleanup of the highway along Antes Creek thirty years before if became the practice of the Pennsylvania Department of Highways for Pennsylvania.
Mr. Youngman retired from the practice of law in 1991, and died January 20, 2000.
John Crawford Youngman, Jr.
John Crawford Youngman, Jr., was born on March 24, 1934, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the son of John C. Youngman, Sr. and Ruth (Allen) Youngman. He died on Thursday, August 29, 2013, of Pick's Disease at Valley View Nursing Center, Montoursville, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Youngman was educated in the Williamsport Area School District, and graduated from the Williamsport Area High School in 1952. He was a member of the District IV winning basketball team. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1956, and his L.L.B. from the Harvard University Law School in 1959.
In 1959, Mr. Youngman commenced his law practice with his father's law firm, Candor, Youngman, Gibson and Gault. While the Candor, Youngman firm was known primarily as an insurance defense firm, Mr. Youngman became well known for his pursuit of product liability claims on behalf of injured individuals, and he and then partner Allen Ertel were pioneers in the pursuit of product liability cases.
In addition to admission to the Lycoming County and Pennsylvania Bars in 1959, Mr. Youngman was admitted to the United States District Courts for the Middle District, Eastern District, and Western District of Pennsylvania, the United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
In 1985 of Mr. Youngman, represented himself and argued the case of Bender vs. Williamsport Area School District in the United States Supreme Court. A group of high school students formed a religious club called "Petros" and requested permission to meet on school premises during school hours. The School Board denied the request and the students filed suit. In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court held that he lacked standing to appeal as an individual, as a member of the Williamsport School Board and as a parent.
Mr. Youngman served on the Executive Committee of the Lycoming Law Association from 1983 through 1990. and as President in 1989. He was a lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church, where he was a Ruling Elder, a longtime member of the church choir, and a teacher of Sunday school students.
In addition to his interest in singing, he was a dedicated fly fisherman on his beloved Antes Creek where he had a cottage.
He was survived by his wife, Judith and four children.
Samuel Ludwig Youngman
Samuel L. Youngman, another son of George W. and Anna E. (Ludwig) Youngman was born August 24, 1846. He read law with his father, and was admitted to our bar, April 22, 1868. He began to practice the same year. He served as one of the Emergency Men during the Rebellion. A Republican in politics, he was for some years an active member of the party, but later took very little interest in political affairs. Besides practicing law, he also engaged in the real estate business. He was married February 22, 1871, to Margaret Louise, daughter of Henry Rissell. They were the parents of five children: William Sterling a former Lieutenant Governor of Mass.; Mary V. Gerwig, of Boston, Massachusetts; Julia Ross Johnson, of California; Amanda Louise McWilliams also of California and Samuel Antes.
He and his wife were members of the Second Presbyterian church. He died in Newberry, January 26, 1915, of Bright’s disease.
Samuel L. Youngman together with Henry C. McCormick, former Attorney General and Dr. Thompson Mitchell, father of Judge Max L. Mitchell, developed a large part of the territory north of the Pennsylvania Railroad and known as the Park Avenue district. He furnished the site for Holmes Silk Mill, and developed Youngman’s Addition in Newberry.
72Steamboat Pilot, Steamboat Springs, Colo. I am also indebted to Judge May C. Norman, of Meeker, Judge Eugene Steele, of Steamboat Springs, and former Governor Teller Ammons, of Denver, for most of the above information.
73Gazette & Bulletin, January 8, 1881, p. 2.
74Interested persons will find much information concerning the above mentioned events in Memorials of the Different Rebellions In Ireland, by Sir Richard Musgrove, Bart. Dublin: 1801. And see also, Historical Review of the State of Ireland, Vol. III, p. 294.
75Colonial Records, Vol. III, p. 428ff; Straussburger, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, Vol. 1, pp. 57-58. John George’s own ac count of the voyage is published in full in Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings, Vol. XV (1946), p. 241ff; And see also, Trexler, Skizzen aus dem Lecha Thale, p. 37; Dieffenderfer, The German Immigration into Pennsylvania, Lancaster (1900), p. 64-68.
76Patent Book A, Vol. 9, p. 269; Deed Book G, 7, p. 554 Philadelphia County, Pa.
77History of Mifflinburg, by Richard V. B. Lincoln (1900), published by his daughter, Anna R. Lincoln, 1938; History of Mifflinburg, by Charles M. Steese, Lewisburg, 1929.
78According to Roget’s Thesaurus, infair or infare is Scottish or American dialect, and means social gathering.
79Linsey-woolsey was a coarse fabric woven from linen warp and coarse wool filling.
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