My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM H. EBERLY, who was long one of the leading business citizens and prominent men of Mechanicsburg, a member of the well-known lumber firm of L. F. Eberly & Sons, was born Nov. 16, 1840, on a farm in Cumberland county, and died at his home in Mechanicsburg April 1, 1902. His parents were Levi F. and Eliza (Shuey) Eberly, extended mention of the family being found elsewhere.

William H. Eberly attended the public schools in his youth and was considered competent to teach at the age of sixteen years. While he was teaching others he was preparing for entrance to the Cumberland Valley Institute, which he attended two years later, going from there to Otterbein University, at Westerville, Ohio. He was thus well equipped for the appointment which he soon afterward received, that of teller for the banking firm of Michael Mumma, a position which he ably filled through the various changes through which the institution passed. His ability brought him into the notice of prominent citizens and in 1864 he was appointed clerk in the Quartermaster’s department at Annapolis. In 1876, during the Centennial celebration at Philadelphia, he was financially interested in the West End Railway. Soon afterward he became associated with other capitalists and organized and put into operation the Dime Express Company, of Philadelphia. In 1878 he sold his interest in this enterprise and returned to Mechanicsburg, becoming associated with the firm of L. F. Eberly & Sons, which is widely known in lumber circles, and with which he was connected until his death. Other business organizations in which he was interested were of local character, and he was one of the directors of the First National Bank and of the Singer Band, and also of the Chestnut Hill cemetery.

In March, 1863, Mr. Eberly married Katherine Power, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Barnes) Power, of Perry county. Her sister, Emma, is the wife of Harry Gittinger, of the Lebanon Trust Co., of Lebanon.

Mr. Eberly was a stanch Republican. He was the leader of the excellent choir of the U. B. Church. His talent in music was great, and he was a composer of no little merit. Possessing a genial manner and a very lovable disposition, he was universally popular. His friends could not be numbered and his death was not only a sad bereavement to his widow, but also to those who had known and loved him from boyhood.