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/694

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

ceived the dqjrcc o f Doctor o f Divinity from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., Ju n e, 1905. M r. Gilbert married, in Hazleton, P a., Aug. 8, 1875, Sarah Rosalie Spohn, who died Sept. 19, 1882. H is second marriage ocairred in Dillsburg. Pa., Dec. 1 1 ,1 8 8 3 .1 0 ju lia Ann Lau. Sh e died Aug. 12, 1905, and on Nov. 6, 1907. he wa.s married at Huntingdon, P a., to M rs. M aigarct Jackson Crispin, o f Berwick, Pa. O f his first marriage two children survive: Frederick } ., bom Ju n e 10, 1877, and CIco C., boni N ov. 24, 1879. O f his second marriage one son survives, Richard H ., J r ., bom March 26, 1885. A fte r a clerkship in the company store at Ebervalc, and sundry minor tasks, followed by more than a ye ar’s travel in N ova Scotia, and Porto Rico, V. I., he clerked in H azle­ ton, Pa., 1874-76; conducted a photograph gallery, 1876-77; was local editor of the Haziclon SentiHel, 1877-78. and has been a Metho­ dist preacher since September, 1878. H e has seraed the following appointments in the Cen­ tral Pennsylvania Conference: Bloomingdale circuit, 1878-79; Fort Littleton circuit, 18798 1 : Dillsburg circuit, 18 8 1-8 3; Emporium, 1883-86; Grace Church, Williamsport. 18868 9; F irst Clmrch. CTiambcrshurg, 1889 -9 1; F irst Church, Tyrone, 1891-96; F irst Church, Huntingdon, 18 ^ - 19 0 0; First Church, B er­ wick, 1900-06; presiding elder (now desig­ nated superintendent) 01 the Danville district, 19 0 6 -12; secretary of the .Annuity P'und, 1 9 1 2; field secretary fo r Goucher College Fund o f Central Pennsylvania Conference. 19 13, and is at present conference secretary of the Church Temperance Society. Dr. Gilbert has bw n active hy voice and pen outside the pale o f his own church. H e is a frequent contributor to the secular and relig­ ious p re ss; has lectured at St. John’s College (U niversity Extension Course), .Annapolis, S id .; Mountain Inike Park. M d„ Chautauqua A ssem bly: Dickinson College, Carlisle. P a .; Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport, I’a .; the Williams* Grove Sunday School Assembly, W illiam s’ Grove, P a .; the Bcllcvicw Chau­ tauqua Assembly, W. V a .; and has been fre­ quently in demand by literaiy societies and church conventions in and out of the State. H e cilitcd the Young People’s department of the “ Church Forum ”; and was president of the Pennsylvania A u xiliary of the .American Society fo r Religious Education; secrctaiy of the Pennsylvania Brotherhood o f St. P au l; member of the American Bible So ciety; Athenian Society, of the College o f Liberal A rts o f Grant U niversity; member of the N a­

tional Council of the National Economic L eagu e; member of the American Sociological Society: o f Knapp Lodge, N o. 462, F. & .A. M ., and Berwick Council, No. 17 6 1, of the R oyal Arcanum. Dr. Gilbert has been honored in his church, having been a delegate 10 the 1901 session of the Methodist Ecumenical Conference, Lon­ don, En glan d; to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1900, in Chi­ cago. and 1908, m Baltimore, and was elected a reserve delegate to the session o f 1904. He lias been for several years a member of the board o f managers of the Board o f Home Missions and Church Extension, and has twice been vice president o f that board. H e is also a mcmhcr of the Mutual Beneficial .Association o f his Conference. Among his extensive writings may be men­ tioned: "T ra v e l N otes o f a Southern T rip ,” “ The Adventures o f a R un aw ay," " F r ^ . Thompson’s M istake,” and several essays on moral and religious topics. H e has made se v ­ eral trips abroad, and the results of these visits have given in sundiy newspaper articles, and his lectures, "T h e Beauties o f Britain” and "Glim pses o f L ife .Abroad.” Among the few recreations ixissible in such a busy life has been, and chicfi»t, the production o f pastel and oil paintings, some o f which contribute to the adornment o f his present home in Benvick, Pennsylvania. In politics he w as a Republican and so continued until he formulated the b rief creed, that the politics that suit the liquor business could not suit him; since which time, 1884, he has been a stanch Prohibitionist. He was chaimian of the State convention o f that party in Altoona about 1898; and was placed on the ticket fo r Assembly, by the Prohibitionists o f Columbia county, in 1904. H is pronounced temperance views secure fo r him frequent in­ vitations to serve the Anti-Saloon League of I’ennsylvania, and also the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. A L E X A N D E R B . H E R R IN G, fo r several years burgess o f Orangeville and a prominent citizen o f that part of Columbia county, was bom there Nov. 20, 18 4 1, son o f John H er­ ring and a descendant o f a German family, which was founded in (his country by O iristophcr Herring. G iristophcr H erring, the emigrant ancestor, came to .America with his w ife and eight chil­ dren licfore the Revolutionary w ar. They were “ redemptioners,” having to scr-e for a time a fte r arrival a s servants of the persons