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/702

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

Ellis, w as boni Ju ly 8. 1834. in what w as then Columbia (now M om our) county, and became one o f (he prominent men o f his region in his day. H e engaged in merchandising, and later followed farm ing, being one of the most re­ spected citizens o f hi.s township, and was elected to the office o f justice of the peace, which he held fo r live years. H e was still serving at the time o f his death, w hkh oc­ curred M ay 4, 1879, when he was but fortyfive years old. H e married Jan e A . Ellis, a native o f Bucks county, who outlived him many years, dying in Eebruarj-, 19 12 . They had two children, Jam es F . and W . S . Ellis. Jam es Franklin EUis received his education in the public schools. H e was reared to farm ­ ing, and continued to follow that occu]»tion fo r eight or ten years during his earlier man­ hood. H e s e r v ^ his fellow citizens in .An­ thony township for a number o f years in offi­ cial positions, two terms as ta x collector and two terms as assessor, and was storekeeper and gauger in the United States Internal Rev­ enue service, at Hazleton, Bum es and Coles Creek, all in Pennsylvania. A t one time fo r about sc‘en years he w as mercantile appraiser fo r Montour county. In 1906 he was one of the organizers of the Farm ers' National Bank, o f Exchange, and has ever since served as cashier of the institution, o f which he is also a director. T h e substantial citizens who arc officials and directors o f this bank are the best guaranty o f its stability, and it has alw ays been considered a high class concern, welt de­ serving the substantial support it has received in the community. Mr. E llis by his efficient efforts has done his share toward establish­ ing and maintaining this reputation. H is prin­ cipal interests are centered in the bank, but he also owns seventy acres o f land. In Jan u ary, 1886, M r. E llis married Ju lia .A. Watson, o f Anthony township, daughter of John and Louisa Catherine (Sterner) Watson. L-irming jwoplc. M r. Watson was a school director. M r. EUis is a member of the R e ­ formed (Thurch, and his w ife belongs to the Presbyterian Church at Washingtonville. F R A N K E M E R S O N D e L O N G, whose success as a m anufacturer has m.tdc fo r his name a permanent place in the histor)' o f in­ dustrial development in the United States, is a native o f lin v ille. Montour Co., P a. His' home is localeil at Washingtonville, where his grandparents seltle<l many years .ago, and there he h.ns est.ablishcd a countr)’ estate that is scarce equaled in this part of the State. Ile n ry Dc Long, his grandfather, w as to m

in Berks coumy, Pa., and his w ife, Magdalena Berger, was a native o f Union county, this State. H is ancestors came from France, while hers were o f Gentian origin. When but a youth Henry De Long came to Columbia county and settled at Washingtonville, the territory being then included within tlu t coun­ ty. H e foUowed the trade o f weaver, and lived 'to be sixty-six years o f age. H is w ife died at the age o f ninety. Daniel De Long, son o f H enry, was to m M arch 27, 1827. at Washingtonville, where he lived until his eighteenth birthday, at­ tending the country schools in the intervals o f labor at the loom. H e then went to Phila­ delphia, where he obtained (he better part o f his education, returning after a time to M on­ tour county to take the jiosition o f bookkeeper at the old Rough and Ready mill in Danville. H e w as afterw ards superintendent o f (he com ­ pany store fo r ten or twelve years. In 1872 he built a plant o f his own in E ast DanviUe. which w as known as the DanviUe Iron Foun­ dry. It w as 56 by 84 feet in dimensions, sol­ idly constructed, having a slate roof, an un­ usual feature at that time. It had a cupola, capable o f melting seven tons o f iroti at one heat, core oven, crane, blacksmith shop, pat­ tern shop, etc., and w as completely equipped for the production o f stoves, and plows and various other agricultural implements. T he first left-handed plow in thfs part o f (he coun­ try was manufactured here by M r. Dc Long. All kinds o f machine work were done at his foundry, which he carried on successfully fo r fifteen years, a fte r which he retired and moved to Philadelphia. M r. De Long also conducted a large coal yard in Danville in connection with his foundry. H e w*as director of the F irst National Bank o f D anville: served as member of the school board; and fo r twenty years was warden of the Episcopal Church, l i e was a member of the I. O . O . F ., belong­ ing to Lodge N o. lOo o f Philadelphia; and w as a thirty-second-dcgree Mason, a menitor o f l.odgc No. 224, F . & A . M.. DanviUe. Mount Moriah Council, No. »o, R . & S . M .. Catawissa Chapter, N o. 178, R . .A. M ., .and Crusade Commandery, No. 12, K . T. Mr. De Ixing w as married to Jan e Em er­ son. who w as to m Sept. 10, 18 3 1. in Sunder­ land. England, and came to .America in 1854. She now resides at the Dc Long homestead .at Washingtonville. Of the children to m to M r. and M rs. D c Long only two sundve. Fran k E. and .Sarah E ., the latter the w ife o f George McConnell, form erly o f Toronto. Can.ada, and now manager of the D c Long estate