John Henry Harres
Although the surname Harres is not of German origin, that’s the country John’s father, Gebhard, left to settle in Philadelphia and have nine children. John went to Central High School…
Read MoreWilliam H. Letford, Jr.
The name Letford derives from a village named Latchford in either Cheshire or Oxfordshire, England. Only a little more is certain about William’s roots. His parents were both born in…
Read MoreWatson Holbrook Farrington
A Hollywood screenwriter making up a fictitious name for the son of a fabulously wealthy oil baron could not have found a more prosperous-sounding name than this. However, the real…
Read MoreWilliam James Wallace
It is often said a man isn’t defined solely by the work he does. However, most men in the Wallace family held one occupation for their entire lives, and most…
Read MoreWilliam Marshall
Bill’s mother was about 17 when she married Thomas Marshall on April 22, 1935. She gave birth to Bill a little more than three months later. Thomas was a cooper,…
Read MoreGeorge Potts McLean
Both of George’s parents were from Scotland who married in 1800 in Philadelphia and had 13 children. His early years weren’t documented until sometime just before 1850 when he married…
Read MoreHugh Douglas McLean, M.D.
Hugh was the last child born in a large Irish family and was the only one born after the McLeans left their homeland and settled in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania in…
Read MorePeter Clarkson Ellmaker
The Ellmaker family’s roots go deep in Lancaster County and well before the Revolutionary War. Peter had a half-brother, Frederick, born in 1811 but their father died in 1816. That’s…
Read MoreJacob Nathan Hoeflich
Some of the most interesting moments in Jacob’s life were in his first and his last days, although his life turned out to be anything but dull. The last years…
Read MoreThompson Carson
Thompson stepped off a ship onto American soil in New York in the summer of 1857. Less than four years later, while still a citizen of Ireland, he joined the…
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