My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM H. PEFFER. On Oct. 7, 1751, there arrived at Philadelphia in the ship “Janet,” from Rotterdam, a Philip Pfeiffer. With him on the same ship came a Christian Peifer and a Mathias Pfeiffer, who were probably brothers of Philip. There is nothing at hand to show where in the Province of Pennsylvania these immigrants first settled, but the records of Cumberland county show that a Philip Peffer was on the Yellow Breeches creek, in West Pennsboro (now Dickinson) township, as early as 1775. His name that year first appears upon the tax list of Cumberland county, but he in all probability was in the locality named even prior to that date, for the
Provincial records show that in 1786 there was issued to him a warrant for land on which there was then already an “improvement,” and interest on the amount charged for the land was to commence on March 1, 1773. The Philip Pfeiffer of the ship “Janet” and the Philip Peffer of the Yellow Breeches, it may safely be assumed, were one and the same person.

Philip Peffer continues regularly upon the tax list of that part of the county for many years taxed with both real and personal property. His chief occupation was farming, but he also engaged in distilling, as were many farmers at that early date in this part of Pennsylvania. He also took a great interest in public affairs, and in 1806, and again in 1807, was elected one of Cumberland county’s representatives in the State Legislature, which then sat at Lancaster. His colleagues in the Legislature were James Lowery and John Orr. He and his wife Mary died in 1830, within less than a day of each other, she on Sunday evening, Oct. 17th, and he on Monday morning, Oct. 18th. She was seventy-seven years old and he eighty-three, and both were buried in the same grave. He left a will from which it appears that he had the following children: Henry, Benjamin, George, Joseph and John, sons, and also daughters, Christina Plyler and Mary Black. In a codicil to his will he also speaks of a son-in-law named Isaac Brandt. In 1781 there were upon the tax list of West Pennsboro township the names of two Philip Peffers, one designated freeman, from which it may be inferred that Philip Peffer also had a son Philip, but if he had it is strongly probable that he died without issue and before his father made his will.

Henry Peffer was one of the two executors named in Philip Peffer’s will — David Glenn being the other — but it is not certain that he was the eldest son. He married Mary Wolfensberger, and had the following children: Adam, William, John, Benjamin and Mary. He also had a son Henry, who died in August, 1826, aged about twenty-two years. Mary Peffer, wife of Henry Peffer and mother of Adam Peffer, died June 16, 1845, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, and her husband died two weeks afterward, on July 1, 1845, at the age of seventy-three.

Adam Peffer was the eldest of Henry Peffer’s children. He was born Dec. 14, 1797, on the ancestral homestead in Dickinson township, and spent all his lifetime in that vicinity. He was twice married, on Feb. 24, 1825, being united to Miss Mary Kerr, by Rev. Benjamin Keller, pastor of the Lutheran Church of Carlisle. Mary Kerr was a daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth (McGranathan) Kerr, of Carlisle, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. By this marriage he had one child, Henry Kerr Peffer. Adam Peffer’s first wife died early and he afterward married Elizabeth Glancey, a daughter of William Glancey, a native of Ireland.

Henry Kerr Peffer, the only child of Adam and Mary (Kerr) Peffer, was born Jan. 13, 1827, in South Middleton township, where he grew to manhood and received his education in the public schools. On Feb. 10, 1848, he married Jane Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Weakley, of Dickinson township. Nathaniel Weakley was the son of a James Weakley, who was a son of James Weakley, who about 1725 came from Ireland and settled near the Yellow Breeches creek, in what is now Dickinson township. In 1833 Henry K. Peffer migrated to Warren county, Ill., where for ten years he engaged at farming. He then took up his residence in Monmouth, the county seat of Warren county, and formed a law partnership with Col. James W. Davidson, in which he continued for three years. In 1862 he was elected to the Illinois Legislature as a Democrat, and at the expiration of his term was unanimously nominated by his party for State senator. In 1864 he was a Presidential elector, on the McClellan ticket. In the fall of 1865 he removed with his family to Carlisle, Pa., where, after spending a year looking up business interests in Texas and the Southwest, he permanently located. In 1871 he was nominated by the Democrats, in the district composed of Cumberland and Franklin counties, for State senator, but his party that year was generally unsuccessful and with one or two exceptions the entire ticket was defeated. In 1872 he was admitted to the Cumberland county Bar, but shortly afterwards took charge of the Valley Sentinel, then published at Shippensburg, and entered upon the newspaper business, in which he continued until shortly before his death. In 1874 he became the sole owner of the Sentinel, removed it to Carlisle, and in 1881 began the publication of the Evening Sentinel, the first daily newspaper in Cumberland county. In 1888 he was appointed postmaster of Carlisle and the following year was succeeded in the publication of his newspaper by his two sons, William H. and Charles A. Peffer. In religious faith Mr. Peffer and family were Presbyterians and long active and prominent in the Second Presbyterian Church of Carlisle. He died on April 13, 1891, at his home near Carlisle; his wife died at Monmouth Jan. 19, 1895, and the remains of both rest in the Old Graveyard at Carlisle. Henry K. and Jane Mary Peffer had issue as follows: Mary Elizabeth, born March 2, 1852; William Henry, born Jan. 4, 1857; Charles Alvin, born April 4, 1859; and Adam Franklin, born Feb. 25, 1861. The first named, Mary E., was born in Cumberland county, but the three sons were born at Monmouth, Ill. Mary E. married Milton S. Sprout, a native of Hampden township, Cumberland county, who died Oct. 3, 1893, and she died July 28, 1896; their remains are buried at Monmouth. They left no children. Charles A. married Ella Krause, of Carlisle, and has children - Mary, Addie, Ruth and Ernest. Adam E. married Sarah Mull, of Carlisle, but has no children.

William H. Peffer, the eldest son, was eight years old when his parents returned to Pennsylvania and located at Carlisle. He attended the public schools of Carlisle until he reached his fifteenth year and then entered the Sentinel office and learned the printing trade. His cares and responsibilities increased with his knowledge of the business, and upon his father’s retirement he succeeded him as publisher and soon afterward as proprietor of the newspaper. He continued the publication of the Sentinel until 1894, when, being appointed postmaster of Carlisle, he sold it and turned his attention to his official duties and business enterprises. About this time he purchased a farm at Bonny Brook, a short distance south of Carlisle, where he has since engaged at farming and also for some years at dairying. This place is still his home. Mr. Peffer’s long newspaper career brought him in close touch with Cumberland county politics, and in 1899 he was nominated by the Democrats for clerk of the courts and recorder, but through dissensions in the party failed of election by a small majority. Three years afterward he was elected county treasurer, which responsible office he now holds.

William H. Peffer, on May 30, 1883, was married to Miss Eleanor Hoffman, of Carlisle, Rev. W. S. Freese, pastor of the First Lutheran Church, of Carlisle, performing the ceremony. To their union have come the following children: Henry Kerr, born March 9, 1884; Edith Kelly, May 19, 1886; and Milton, July 4, 1888 (who died in the following September).