Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/466

 412

COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

vestrymen. For years he has beeti connected with Mahoning L^dge, X o. 5 16. F. & A. M.. Danville Chapter. No. 2AQ. R. .A. M .. Calvary Commandery, N o. 37, K. T ., Caldwell Con­ sistory. and the .Vlystic Shrine, as well as the Elks. On Feb. 29, 1888, M r. Hancock w as m ar­ ried to Adda L. Krebs, a daughter o f Simon Krebs, and five sons have been bom to this union: William K .. Charles (w ho died in in­ fan cy). John. Robert G. and W alter E. Simon Krd>s, father o f .Mrs. Hancock, was bom in Gcm iany .April 10, 1839, a son o f John and Catherine Krebs. John Krebs w as born in Germany in 1809. and came to the United States in 1*855. locating at Tamai|ua, Schuyl­ kill Co., i ’a.. .spending the remainder o f his life there, and dying at the age o f ninety-three years. F o r some time he farmed, but he also conducteil a vinegar plant and manufactured wine. Simon Krebs, son o f John K rebs, lived in (iem iany until he was fifteen years old, at which time he was brought to the United States by his parents. He learned the car­ penter's trade, and developed into a contractor o f note, .among other contracts carrying out that o f building the Danville waterworks (at a cost o f $16 5,0 0 0 ). and in conjunction with his son-in-law, Charles 1’. Hancock, built the Danville & Sunbury street railway. Fonnerly a resident o f Danville, he moved to Som er­ set. I’ a., where he has been president and supcrintemlent of the Listic Mining & Manu­ facturing Company. In 1865 M r. Krebs married Harriet Swartz, a daughter o f Jacolj Sw artz, a m er­ chant o f Tamaqua, I’ennsvlvania. Both the Hancock and K rebs families liavc exerted a powerful influence, along varied lines, in the development o f Montour county and adjacent sections, and those who spring from either ought to feel pride in what their forebears have accomplished. Not only have Mr. Hancock and M r. K rebs enriched them­ selves. hut they have brought outside capital into this region and given employment to hundre«ls of the residents of their several communities, affording the means for up­ right. decent living. ISA .A C X. C R I E R, who during his active years was one of the leading attorneys of Danville and Montour county, and prtunincnt in many business enterprises, w as bom in that l»rough Dec. 27. 18.35. an<l ® Michael C. and Isabella (Alontgom cry) Gricr. lie is a great-grandson, on the maternal side.

o f Gen. Willi&m Montgomery, who took a prominent part in the Revolutionary war, and whose son, Daniel, was the founder o f Dan­ ville. Col. John G ricr, paternal great-grandfather o f Isaac X. G ricr, w as o f Scotch-Irish e x ­ traction, and together with many other P ro t­ estants came to Am erica about the year 174O. H e w as a farm er, and resided below C h ^ bersburg. Pa. Kev. Isaac G rier, S. T. D., son o f Col. Jo h n G ricr, was the first minister on the west branch of the Susquehanna river. H e w as pastor o f a Presbyterian Church at Northum ­ berland and also in Clinton county, and fo r several years w as president of the old “ B rick College” at Northumberland. H is death o c­ curred in 1 8 12 or 18 13. H e married E liza­ beth Cooper, daughter o f Rev. Dr. Thom as Cooper, pastor of the .Middle Spring I ’resbytcrian Church, who organized a com|>any at the breaking out of the Revolulionary w ar. and was for a time attached to the staff o f General Washington as chaplain. .Among their children w ere: Robert C ., who became by appointment o f President Polk, in 1846, a justice of the Supreme court o f tlic United States, and served as such until his resigna­ tion, in 18 7 0 : Tltomas C, principal of the Danville .Academy, who died comparatively you n g: Kcv. Isaac, D. D., a graduate o f Princeton University and pastor for over fifty years of the Presbyterian churches o f White Deer, Lycoming county, and Buffalo Crossroads, Union county; John C.. who first settled in I.tanviilc. where he conductcil a mer­ cantile business until about 1846, then a resi­ dent for a few years o f W ilkes-Barre, Pa., later removing lo Peoria. III., where he died, leaving several sons and daughters (a name­ sake o f his, John G ricr Hibben. is now presi­ dent o f Princeton U n iv e rsity ); William N ., who graduated from W est Point about 1836, and w as stationed at various frontier forts up to the b ^ in n in g of the C ivil war. being at that time colonel of the tst Regiment. U. S. Cavalry, later commissioned brigadier gen ­ e ra l; Martha, who became the w ife of the late Gen. Robert O rr, o f Kittanning. P a. : Jan e, w ife of William Hibler, o f W ilkesnarre. P a .: Elizabeth, w ife o f Rev. I ^ , Thomas C. Strong, for more than fifty years p.astor of the Dutch Reformed Church at Flatbtish, l4>ng Island: M argaret, w ife o f Henry Sprout, o f Pittsburgh, P a .; and Michael Cooper. Michael Cooper C rier, son o f Rev. Isaac G rier, was a merchant in early life, and later