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/716

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

religious denomination she lias a broad out­ look u]K>n life, and is liberal in her tolerance o f other people’s views. .Mr. and M rs. Hess have had four children; Clark IL, who is now u{>crnting the homestead, married .Anna Stahl, a daughter o f W illiam Stahl, a veteran of the C ivil w ar, and thty have eight children, Ethel Albcrtha, Elliott Stahl, Evelyn Mildred, W il­ liam Haym an, M yron Clark, G race Margcr)'. Corcne .Anna and Blanche F a y; .Ario Lockard died at the age o f seven y e a r s; a daughter died in infancy unnam ed; Guy Lester is at home. T he principles o f DcmocTacy have alw ays appealed to Mr. H ess, and he has ^ v e n them intelligent support. A man o f action, he has naturally toen called u}x)n to serve in Idtral offices and w as roadmaster fo r six years, a school director fo r three terms (during which period he acted as secretary and treasurer of the b o ard ), and fo r three terms an efficient member of the board o f su|>crvisors. repre­ senting his township. F o r years M r. Hess has tocn a member of the G. ,. R. Post at O rangeville, Pa., and has vcr>' miwh enjoyed meeting his old comrades at (he reunion.'. The Reform ed Church has had in him one o f its most effective members and workers. In ever>relation o f life Mr. Hess has proved himself worthy of the rcsjKCt and confidence he in­ spires. A s a soldier he was hravc and obe­ dient to organized authority, while as a private citizen he has labored to bring about a better­ ment o f existing conditions and to raise tlic m oral standard o f his neiglitorhood. in hts work as an agriculturist he rendered his call­ ing valuable a^si.stance, and has reared his sons to follow him in this line. R O B E R T J . R U H L . manager of the Bloomsburg Paper Company, w as bom in Baltimore county, Md., in A pril, 1856. and ^ n t his boyhood at New l-'rcedom, Y ork C o., P a., where he attended school. A t an early age he b ^ n to to self-supporting, com­ mencing work as an iron ore miner, and so continued fo r some twenty-three years, be­ coming superintendent of the mining depart­ ment of the Princess Iron Company in V irinia. In M arch, 1903, M r. Ruhl came to Uoomsburg, P a „ to lake charge of the old established paper mill which was owned by his f.a(hcr-in-law, Jam es M . .8|iew, now deciMscd. 'llie plant tunis out waterproof jiapcr which is sold throughout the anthracite region, Ten men arc |iiveii steady einploymctit. This plant w as entirely destroyed by fire on Nov. 24, IQ 05, but refmilt within the six months following, the latest improved machinery suit­

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able fo r the manufacture o f this special kind o f paper being installed. There arc about forty-three acres of land connected with the plant, making the projierty very valuable. T he history of the mill is interesting, as it was built ami operated by Thomas Trench as a gristm ill. It was three stories in height. A .Mr. Phillips succeeded M r. Trench as owner, and he operated a small button factory in conjunction. Mr. Trench rcgaineat>er mill. Later it came into the hands o f M r. .Shew. M r. Ruhl married L yd ia Shew, a daughter o f Jam es M. Shew, late o f Bloomsburg. and they have two children, as follow s: Gladys, who maTried A. J. Robbins: and Jessie, who married W illiam M cK elvy Rebcr. M r. Ruhl is an elder of the Presbyterian Church of Bloomsburg and takes a deep interest in that body. In addition to his other interests, he is a director of the Bloomsburg National Bank, having held that office since 1909, and without doubt he is one of the best known business men o f his city. R E V. J O S E P H J. C P E T R O V I T S, pas­ tor o f S t. .Mary's Roman Catholic Clturch of Berw ick, Columbia Co., P a ., w as b o m at Kovccses, N)-itTa Co., H u n g r y, in 1886, a son o f Jacob and M ary (P e te r) Pctrovits. T he ancestors o f his father, Jaco b Petrovits, cante from Germany. H is father, however, was bom in .Austria. White in the m ilitary service he stayed three years in Kom arom . H ungary, where, after the expiration o f his military years, he married his present w ife, who is a Hungarian by birth. In 18 8 3 he brought his fam ily to A'edrod, Pres.sburg county, in order to assume charge of the g ar­ dens of the estate o f Count Joscph Zychy. Both parents are still living there. T h e y had eight children: Ju lia, V aleria, Joscph J . C . M ary, Josephine, W illiam, Theodore and Elizatoth. F o r two years Rev. Father Petrovits at­ tended school at Budapest, and then continued his studies at Prcssburg, where he .stayed for two years, leaving for Nag)'Szombat. one of the oldest in.stitutions o f learning in Hung.nr)’. There he graduated, finishing his prelaratoiy studies for the university. In njoz IC entered the setninary at Esztcrgom. that country, where he carried on h is studies fo r a year. In r<;03 he came to the United States and entered the S t. Charles Borrom co Sem ­ inary o f Philadelphia, where he completed a four vears’ course, and was ordained to the