HISTORICAL SKETCHES
of the Bench and Bar of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
[Preface] [Contents] [Back-Part 14] [Next-Part 16]
Deceased Resident Members of the Bar
(K - L)
Jacob Frederick Katzmaier
Mr. Katzmaier was born in Canton, Pa., February 9, 1877, son of John and Ernestine P. (Raith) Katzmaier. His father was a native of Germany and a blacksmith by trade. John died at Canton in 1898, and Ernestine in 1918. When Fred was a child the family moved to Williamsport. He was graduated from Williamsport High School and then studied law under Hon. G. B. M. Metzger and was admitted to the bar in 1900. He was president of the Lycoming Law Association in 1919. For six years, 1923-29, he served on the Williamsport School Board. He was a member of all the Masonic bodies and an Honorary 33rd Mason, Democratic Club, and a trustee of Covenant-Central Pennsylvania Church, director of the Savings Institution, Williamsport Cemetery, Williamsport Federal Savings and Loan Association, Williamsport Dickinson Junior College. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Williamsport Consistory, A.A.S.R., 1932-35. Mr. Katzmaier died April 5, 1947.
Otto Godfrey Kaupp
Otto G. Kaupp was born in Shrewsbury Township, Lycoming County, June 2, 1866, the son of Matthias and Catherine Anna (Hepperlin) Kaupp. Matthias Kaupp was born in Schopfloch, Oberant County, Freudenstadt, Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, April 4, 1834, and came to America in 1851, settling in Huntersville, where he engaged in farming until 1891. He then removed to Hughesville. He had been educated in his native land and learned to read, write and speak the English language after his arrival in the United States. In 1865 he enlisted in Company G, 192nd P.V.I. and served until the close of the war. He held many township offices, and was elected and served one term as county commissioner, 1882-1885, being a life-long Democrat. He was a member of the German Lutheran Church. He was the son of Matthias, Sr., and Sophia, nee Smith, and was the only one of eleven children who grew to manhood, the remainder dying in infancy.
The mother of Otto G. Kaupp was born July 19, 1833, in Bissingen, unter Teck, Oberant Kircheim, Konigsreich Wurtemberg, Germany, and came to America with her parents in 1852. She married Matthias Kaupp, January 17, 1856, and resided in Hughesville until the death of Matthias, February 19, 1895. Mrs. Matthias Kaupp’s father was John Andreas Hepperlin. Her mother, Anna Maria Webber died abroad, and her stepmother also died shortly after their arrival in this country. Her father died in Wolf Township June 12, 1884.
Matthias and Anna were the parents of nine children, Otto G. being the sixth child. He was educated in the common schools and afterwards was graduated from Lycoming County Normal School and Williamsport Commercial College. For a number of years he was a school teacher, having been principal of the Hughesville, and later of the Montoursville, public schools, and a member of the faculty of the Lycoming County Normal School. He registered as a student in the office of W. E. Crawford, Esq., of Hughesville, and was admitted to the bar, April 1, 1890, and thereafter continued to practice until his death, Sept. 21, 1935.
Mr. Kaupp was a Democrat in politics, and elected District Attorney in 1898. He was a candidate for Congress in 1900 and succeeded in greatly reducing the majority of his Republican opponent. He was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Lodge No. 106 and Lodge No. 1007, I.O.O.F.
Mr. Kaupp was married to Katherine M. Heller, February 5, 1891. Two children were born to them, Katherine, intermarried with Fred Clemson, and Charles Otto. Mrs. Heller was also a former school teacher and a pianist of exceptional ability. She died April 17, 1895. Mr. Kaupp married (second) Elizabeth M. Heller, a sister of his first wife, both of them daughters of John Hilgert and Mary A. (Eckert) Heller, of Fairfield Township, Lycoming County. John H. Heller was a lineal descendant of Philip Hilgert who was wounded at the battle of Cowpens in the Revolutionary war. Two children were born of this second marriage: Elizabeth Heller arid Donald Heller.
Following the adoption of the School Code of 1911, Kaupp was one of nine members of the board at large, serving as president of the board, 1912-19. He was a member of the York Rite bodies of the Masonic order; B.P.O.E., P.O.S.A. and the Isaac Walton League. He was one of the founders of the Larrys Creek Fish and Game Club, and its president for 16 years. He was president of the Lycoming Law Association in 1926, and had also been president of the Young Men’s Democratic Club. In 1932 he was a candidate for the judgeship.
Joseph Patrick Keliher
Joseph Patrick Keliher was born April 7, 1908, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, one of four sons of Timothy J. and Mary O’Connor Keliher.
He attended St. Joseph’s High School, and graduated from Villanova College in 1930, with an A.B. degree. He then received his LL.B. degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1934, and was admitted to practice before the courts of Lycoming County in 1935.
Mr. Keliher was elected treasurer of Lycoming Law Association, and was a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Although he had registered in the office of Marshall R. Anspach, his preceptor, he assumed the law practice of Otto G. Kaupp, Esquire, upon Kaupp’s death, and became one of the most successful and respected attorneys at the Lycoming County Bar.
In 1937, Joe Keliher was appointed by District Attorney Charles Scott Williams to serve as second assistant district attorney of Lycoming County. Then from 1939 to 1943 he served as first assistant district attorney. A Republican, he secured the nomination of both parties for district attorney in 1943, distinguishing himself in that office.
He was a member of the Church of the Annunciation, and its Holy Name Society.
While ill health prevented his practice of law for several years prior to his death, he is well remembered as a fierce competitor, a formidable opponent, throughout his days of practice. He died October 30, 1969, survived by his widow, the former Margaret M. Cox, and three children: Timothy J. Keliher, Mrs. Mary Gibbs Smith (wife of former President Judge Clinton W. Smith), and Mrs. John C. Lundy, and eight grandchildren.
John Kidd
Although John Kidd was the first officer appointed to open the books and organize the machinery of Lycoming County in 1795, nothing is known of his place of birth and early history. That he was of Scotch-Irish origin there is not much doubt. The Colonial Records show that a John Kidd was a member of the committee, from Bucks County, which met at Philadelphia, June 18, 1776, to take steps for holding a State Convention to adopt a Constitution. But it is doubtful if this man was the one who afterwards lived in Williamsport, as he would have been too old.
There was also a family of Kidds in Lancaster County, living in Colerain Township, and the head of the family, then an old man, was a Justice of the Peace, but he probably was descended from another family of that name.
There is a family named Kidd living in York, Pennsylvania. The great grandfather (James) of the present members of the family came from Scotland about the beginning of the 18th century, and settled in Baltimore County, Maryland. John Kidd, his son, was born there in 1727, and died at the same place in 1823, aged 96. His wife lived to be 92. Ezekiel Kidd, a son, came to York when but 13 years of age and died there in 1867, aged 86 years. Amos Kidd, one of his sons, was city engineer in York in 1889, but could give Meginness no information as to the origin of the John Kidd under consideration here.
The bill creating Lycoming County was signed by Governor Mifflin, April 13, 1795, and the following day he appointed John Kidd Prothonotary, Recorder of Deeds, Clerk of Oyer and Terminer, Clerk of Orphans Court, Clerk of Quarter Sessions and Register of Wills. He was thus the first officer appointed on the organization of this county. On April 15, 1795, the Governor appointed Samuel Wallis, Col. William Hepburn, Major John Adlum and Dr. James David son, Associate Judges, and they were sworn in by John Kidd. The first county commissioners were Thomas Foster, John Hanna and James Crawford, appointed by the Governor, December 1, 1795. They met before the open court at Jaysburg and were sworn into office. Then on the 15th day of the same month they appointed John Kidd, County Treasurer, and he held that office until 1802, when he was succeeded by Robert McClure. So all in all, John Kidd was some boy so far as holding numerous county offices at one time was concerned. He did not escape public criticism, however, as Ellis Walton was continually writing letters to the Lycoming Gazette and taking Kidd to task for certain actions as Treasurer, to which Kidd spiritedly replied.65
As can be readily seen, John Kidd was thus a man of prominence as evidenced by his many appointments and the fact that he took the lead in the organization of the county machinery. He is said to have been a fine scholar, and it is known that he was a fine penman, for all the original entries in the court house records are in his handwriting, which is still as clear and beautiful as the day he wrote them in his elegant round hand. He used a quill pen as the steel pen had not then been invented.
Mr. Kidd is said to have been the author of several poems which were regarded as highly meritorious, but they have long since perished. According to all accounts he was an accomplished gentleman, one of the best of companions, and a great favorite in the community on account of his mirthfulness, kindness and winning manners. He was a man of good size and prepossessing in appearance. He wore a ruffled shirt and had his hair done up in a queue. His society was courted by all classes. But with all his accomplishments, he became rather careless in his business habits, neglected his work which he allowed to fall behind, thus becoming the subject of just criticism.
After the election of Governor Snyder, he was an applicant for reappointment, but as it was clearly shown he had neglected his duties, the Governor appointed his old critic, Ellis Walton in his place, February 28, 1809. Mr. Walton took charge of the office and found the work so far behind that he had to employ an extra clerk or two to bring the deed records up to date.
Because of Mr. Kidd’s great popularity, great excitement was occasioned over his removal from office, and his boon companions were highly indignant.
John Kidd died April 9, 1813, and was buried in the Harris graveyard at Loyalsock. Although reputed a bachelor he had a daughter, Rowena, who was raised by William Harris.66 She was born about 1787, and married Samuel Shoemaker, March 29, 1810, at the age of 23. She died January 19, 1842, at Muncy.
William Clarence King
William Clarence King was born on the Poco Farm, Loyalsock Township, Lycoming County, Pa., February 6, 1860, the son of James T. and Mary R. King. He received his education in the public schools, Muncy Normal School and Williamsport Commercial College. He then taught school for two years. He served as Deputy Prothonotary for ten years under William Follmer, Daniel Steck and John L. Guinter. In 1881 he was elected Register and Recorder and served until 1891. Having previously studied law, he was admitted to the Lycoming County Bar, January 1, 1891, but practiced only a few years.
James T. King was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, January 25, 1835, a son of Joseph and Mary (Corson) King. His father was born in Lycoming County in 1807, was always engaged in farming, and died April 29, 1870. His grandfather, William King, was among the earliest settlers of the county. Joseph King located in Loyalsock Township. He was a Democrat and filled various offices in the township. His family consisted of: James T., John, of St. Louis; Ellen, widow of Nelson Oakes; Charles R., of Loyalsock Township; and Mary, wife of William Page, of Williamsport. James T. King married Mary R., daughter of William Wheeland, of Loyalsock Township, and they had three children who survived them: William C., the subject of this sketch; Joseph N., and Fannie, wife of Wilbur Kimbal of Loyalsock Township.
William C. King served three years as a private, P.N.G.; 2nd Lieut., Co. D., 12th Regiment, 1889; Major, 12th Regiment, P.V., Spanish-American War and in Philippine Islands, retired with the rank of Colonel. On his return home from the Philippines, he was made Secretary of the A.A.S.R. bodies and served until May 1929. He was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. His wife and daughter, Beryl M. King, survived him. Col. King died March 10, 1930.
Dan Davold Kline
Dan D. Kline was born in Williamsport, December 16, 1883, the son of Abraham Willett and Rachel (Brodhead) Kline. His mother, by right of Revolutionary ancestry, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. His father, a furniture manufacturer, traced his ancestry to old Holland settlers of Pennsylvania. A number of members of both families served in the Civil War.
Dan received his education in the public schools, Cornell University and Cornell Law School, LL. B., 1906. He was first admitted to the New York bar, and on September 25, 1907, to our bar. Through the years he became a specialist in corporation law, and the laws that affect municipalities, and at one time represented 21 townships in Lycoming County. He served as County Solicitor for more than 13 years. He was a director of the Lake Mokoma Corporation and solicitor for the Williamsport School District from 1911. He was president of the Lycoming Law Association in 1942.
At Cornell, he played lacrosse, and subsequently for more than 35 years, he served as a referee of high school and college football games. For a few years he was coach of football at Dickinson Seminary, now Lycoming College.
Mr. Kline was a skilled musician and singer of ability. He sang in the Cornell Glee Club, played the drums in the original Imperial Teteques Band, K.T., was bass soloist in the Covenant- Central Presbyterian Church for many years, and also sang in the Orpheus Glee Club and the University Four, both organizations which he helped to form.
He designed his own cottage at Lake Mokoma and helped in its development. He was sector warden of his area in Civil Defense. At one time his interest in entertainment prompted him to undertake the operation of Memorial Park at the time when it was the amusement center of this section of Pennsylvania.
He maintained his own woodworking shop and made his own large mahogany office table, later the property of Joseph P. Keliher. Dan never walked around like most of us, but always proceeded at a half trot from one duty to another. Although I knew him well, I never realized his age until after his death, being of a light blond complexion his hair did not appear as gray as ours.
Dan married (first) Hortense Belle Brinckerhoff, and they had one daughter, Ann Bell, (Mrs. Paul A. Kenner, of Rochester, N. Y.) His wife died in 1934. Mr. Kline married (second) Alma K. Kane, of Philadelphia, March 2, 1937. He died December 24, 1944, after an illness of four weeks following a heart attack on November 24th. His wife, daughter and mother survived him.
Markin Roselle Knight
Markin R. Knight was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on October 4, 1919. His sketch is pending.
Daniel F. Knittle
Daniel F. Knittle was born July 7, 1921 at Beaver Meadows, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, a son of the Reverend and Mrs. Ralph Knittle.
He attended Dickinson Junior College in Williamsport, (now Lycoming College) and graduated in 1943. He also graduated from Dickinson College and Dickinson School of Law and received his LL.B. degree in 1948. During World War II he was a pilot in the United States Navy with the rank of Lt. j.g. and flew in a squadron of PBY’s engaged in tactical search and rescue operations.
Mr. Knittle began his legal career as a clerk with Clyde Williamson but completed his clerkship with Charles F. Greevy, Jr. and was admitted to the practice of law in 1948.
He joined the firm of Greevy & Greevy consisting of Charles F. Greevy Jr. and Lester L. Greevy, Sr. and subsequently became a partner in the firm known as Greevy, Greevy & Knittle. During his legal career he was also a partner of Dean R. Fisher, and Walter R. Rice, Jr. From 1964 until the time of his death, he was a partner with Lester L. Greevy, Sr. and J. Neafie Mitchell in the firm of Greevy, Knittle & Mitchell at 29 West Fourth Street, Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Dan was married to Joanne Bishop in 1944 and as a result of this marriage they had three children, Mrs. Barbara Morrone, Mrs. Lois Grieco and Nancy Knittle. Following his first wife’s death, he married Norma Tupper and this marriage ended in divorce. In 1960, he married Joyce Kelchner of Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, and they had two children, Tammy Jo and Daniel Mark Knittle. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife Joyce, and the aforementioned five children and two grandchildren, Joanna Morrone and Francesco Morrone, III.
He was a member of Calvary United Methodist Church, the Gray’s Run Hunting and Fishing Club, the Williamsport Wheel Club, the BPOE Lodge No. 173 of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, an honorary lifetime member of the Edgar A. Stills BPOE Lodge No. 207, the Lycoming Emery Bridge Club, the Catawissa Lodge #349, F & AM of Pennsylvania, the Williamsport Consistory, and Irem Temple.
Mr. Knittle was a member of the Lycoming Law Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association and American Bar Association. In addition to being admitted to the practice of law in the several courts of Lycoming County, he was admitted to practice before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth Court, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit. He also served as a member of the American Arbitration Association and was a director of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association.
During his career he was first assistant district attorney under Markin Knight and also was a member of the executive committee of the Lycoming Law Association. He had a vital interest in local government and served as Chairman of the Williamsport Charter Commission.
Dan’s ability as a lawyer, especially a trial lawyer, became apparent very early in his career and was known to the bench and bar throughout the state. His many spectacular successes attest to that ability.
Dan was never without a cause, and even though many times the cause was unpopular or controversial, this did not dissuade him from giving it his wholehearted support and effort. The underdog always had a champion in Dan.
He was a man of many abilities but most will remember his keen, analytical mind which quickly reached the solution to a seemingly unsolvable problem.
He was killed in an automobile accident June 21, 1972. While his life was comparatively brief, he left a lasting worthwhile impression among his fellow lawyers and many, many friends.
Floyd Milton Kocher
Floyd M. Kocher was born at Ruggles Hollow, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, on August 17, 1885, a son of Elmer E. and Mary Etta O’Mealey Kocher. In 1914, he moved to Williamsport, remaining here until his death. He died September 11, 1961.
After coming here he became interested in the study of law, and for this purpose entered the office of the Honorable Archibald M. Hoagland, a young lawyer destined to become mayor of Williamsport. Up to this time, according to his son Norman E. Kocher, also a member of this bar, Floyd had very little formal education. He learned much from his mother, read voraciously, and had a retentive memory. Indeed he might be said to have graduated from a school of hard knocks and steady blows, for he had been obliged to leave school at the age of 13.
Without a law degree, he applied for and passed the bar examination on his own efforts, and was admitted to practice April 7, 1920. When his son Norman was admitted in 1938, father and son took up practice together in the Goldenberg Building on Pine Street in Williamsport.
Floyd M. Kocher married Carrie A. Schoonover, of Center Morland, Wyoming County, at Noxon, Pennsylvania, on September 18, 1907. She also assisted in his education, tutoring him in algebra and other subjects. Four children were born to them: Norman, already mentioned; Jean, who married one Charles E. Kocher, teacher in Roosevelt School; Herbert J. Kocher, a photographer in old Lycoming Township; and Ernest F. Kocher, an insurance agent in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania.
Floyd M. Kocher was innovative, being the first to convince the recorder of deeds to record instruments without the intervention of a “straw man”. Further, he persuaded many justices and aldermen that they had no jurisdiction in actions of trespass on the case.
He was an ardent hunter of small game and deer. Though his ambition was to shoot a deer, this he did not accomplish, though he was once charged with spotlighting a deer, by a vindictive client. At a hearing before Judge Metzger, Floyd was vindicated. The judge observed that Floyd’s initials seemed of “recent origin”, though the spotlight had been in the possession of authorities for a long time, and indeed was in the property of the vindictive client.
Though not a law school graduate, Mr. Kocher loved his profession with a zeal unmatched by others. Once convinced of the righteousness of his cause, he would persist therein with no regard for consequences.
Mr. Kocher was an active member of Calvary Methodist Church, where he was Sunday School superintendent for 12 years, a teacher there for 44 years, a church trustee for the same period. He belonged to the Methodist Men’s Club, the Friday Night Club, and the Patriotic Order of Sons of America. He was a life-long Republican, and at one time served as an assistant district attorney.
Norman Elmer Kocher
Norman E. Kocher was born in Noxen, Pennsylvania on January 8, 1911, the son of Floyd M. Kocher (a member of this bar) and Carrie A. Schoonover Kocher. He graduated from the Williamsport Public Schools; from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1933; and from the University of Pittsburgh Law School with a Bachelor of Laws Degree in 1937. He was admitted to practice before the Bar of Lycoming County on October 3, 1938. Kocher took up the practice of law with his father, Floyd, in 1938 with offices in the Goldenburg Building on Pine Street, Williamsport.
Mr. Kocher was a combat soldier with the 77th Infantry Division of the United States Army. He fought the Japanese during the Guam, Philippines and Okinawa campaigns which drove the Japanese back to their home islands.
After the war, Mr. Kocher returned to practice with his father and, after his death, continued the practice of law with Markin Knight in the city's Newberry Section. He had previously served as an Assistant District Attorney under Mr. Knight and as a District Magistrate. He was a member of the Lycoming Law Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Mr. Kocher was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party, voted in every election, and was usually first at the polls on election day.
Mr. Kocher married Evelyn R. Sortman on December 21, 1952.
Mr. Kocher was a devoted member of the Calvary United Methodist Church where his father before him had been a member for forty-four years. He was also a member of Lodge 106 F & AM, the Williamsport Consistory, Zafar Grotto, the Republican Club and the Republican League.
Mr. Kocher was an avid hunter and fisherman. He maintained a boat on Seneca Lake and fished there regularly for many years. Norm was a fine cook. He smoked his own lake trout and shad, baked pies, made stews with his fresh garden vegetables which were succulently flavored with his home grown spices. He made sauerkraut and his specialty, crabapple jelly. He canned what he raised including twelve different varieties of squash.
Gardening was the "love of his life." He grew fruits and vegetables of many types. His death came from a heart attack while he was watering his zinnias.
He died Tuesday, August 8, 1995.
James Barber Krause
James B. Krause was born at Aaronsburg, Center County, Pa., the son of Rev. Abraham and Levina (Barber) Krause, October 8, 1854. He was educated in the public schools of the several charges at which his father was stationed in his itinerary, and at Central Pennsylvania College, New Berlin, Pa., graduating from that institution in 1870. Following his graduation, he taught school in Anthony, Eldred and Loyalsock Townships, meanwhile studying law in the office of Hon. Oliver H. Reighard, and was admitted in March 1878. He formed a partnership with James S. Lewars, which after five years was dissolved by Mr. Lewars retiring to enter upon a business career. Because he was conversant with the German as well as the English language, he early acquired a lucrative practice. Taking an active interest in politics, he was for a number of years secretary and later chairman of the Republican County Committee. He always declined public office, although importuned by his friends. He served a number of terms as school solicitor in Williamsport, and for the Overseers of the Poor of the City of Williamsport.
Mr. Krause was the moving spirit in the purchase of the Packer Farm, then in Loyalsock Township, north of Rural Avenue in 1889, for $100,000.00. This tract of land containing 400 acres is now known as Vallamont. In 1890 he promoted the “Junction,” the “South Side,” the “Center” and “West End,” and the Vallamont Passenger Railway Companies, later leased to the Williams- port Passenger Railway Company, and now a thing of the past but still lingering in the memories of the old timers.
In 1900 Mr. Krause became president of the Williamsport and North Branch Telephone Company, an independent company, which installed an extensive plant covering Williamsport and the county of Lycoming, later leased to the United Telegraph and Telephone Company. (In those days, and indeed down into the 1920’s every lawyer’s office had to have the United Telephone as well as the Bell in order to talk with his rural clients. Its office was located in the Susquehanna Trust building rooms.) He was a director of the Northern Central Trust Company, the Williamsport Water Company, the Pennsylvania Power and Light, the Wildwood Cemetery Company and other corporations. He was a director of and solicitor for Grit Publishing Company, and treasurer of the Vallamont Land Company. Mr. Krause’s died on October 6, 1923.
Mr. Krause was one of the foremost Masons in this country, and had a remarkable Masonic career. He was made a Master Mason October 7, 1890, in Ivy Lodge, No. 397, and was Master of that lodge in 1895. He was Eminent Commander of the Baldwin 11 Commandery in 1898. In the Scottish Rite, he received the degrees in the Bloomsburg bodies, and along with other local brethren resigned in order to form the Co-ordinate bodies of the Williamsport Consistory, which he served as Commander-in-Chief from 1901 to 1904. He was made an honorary 33rd degree Mason at Boston, Sept. 17, 1901, and on October 4, 1912, an Active member. He also served as Right Worshipful Grand Master of Pennsylvania, 1918-19. He was truly the outstanding Mason of this valley.
James B. Krause married, on May 11, 1882, Margaret Jane Champion, daughter of Mark Adams and Anna Marie (Kauder) Champion (see page 165, for an account of the Champion family). To them were born a son, Mark Champion, of Williamsport, and a daughter, Anna Marie, Mrs. Frank Davis of Philadelphia, Pa.67
Don Lincoln Larrabee
Don Lincoln Larrabee was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 13, 1905, the son of Don Marshall Larrabee, who was, for many years, the president judge of Lycoming County Courts, and Olive Moore Larrabee. His untimely death occurred November 3, 1972, in his 67th year, only shortly after he had retired from a long and successful career involving both the practice and the teaching of law. He was survived by his widow, Elizabeth Humeston Larrabee and a brother, David M. Larrabee.
Don attended the Williamsport Dickinson Seminary, and there after Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania. He later studied at the Wharton School of Finance of the University of Pennsylvania, after which he enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He was admitted to the Lycoming County Bar on April 19, 1938. He maintained his own law office until late in life, when he had an informal association with his nephew, Don Marshall Larrabee, II.
Don Lincoln Larrabee taught a course known as “Legal Principles” at Lycoming College, Williamsport, for more than 27 years. He deeply appreciated this phase of his life and enjoyed warm and effective relations with his many students. He was an active member of the Wesley United Methodist Church. Further, he was an enthusiastic member and past commander of Garrett Cochran Post No. 1, American Legion. A Mason for more than 40 years, he was past master of Philadelphia Lodge #51, F and AM, and of Williamsport Consistory, AASR.
During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy, and left the service with the rank of lieutenant commander. Mr. Larrabee was active in bar association matters, being president of the Lycoming Law Association in 1951, and a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He enjoyed a broad general practice, specializing in Orphans’ Court law. He was a careful practitioner, industrious and well respected.
Don Lincoln Larrabee was a man of numerous and unusual capabilities. His death on Friday, November 3, 1972, deeply stirred the hearts and minds of his numerous colleagues in all walks of life.
James Sylvester Lewars
James S. Lewars was born at Montoursville, Pa., October 26, 1850, and died May 17, 1914. He was graduated from Gettysburg College, in 1875. He taught in the Lycoming County Normal, School a short time. He then studied law with H. C. Parsons and was admitted to the Lycoming County bar on May 13, 1878.
He formed a partnership with James B. Krause, under the firm name of Krause and Lewars, but he practiced only a few years and then in 1886 he entered the hardware business in the firm of James S. Lewars and Company. He also served as deputy clerk in the County Commissioners office, also in the Prothonotary’s office, and then became a bookkeeper in the Lycoming National Bank, until the time of his death.
William I. Lippincott
Mr. Lippincott was born in Rose Valley in 1857 and was admitted to the Lycoming County bar in 1880. According to Meginness, he was later a police magistrate in Helena, Montana.
Clinton Lloyd
Clinton Lloyd was the son of Colonel Thomas W. Lloyd who was among the earliest settlers in Lycoming County. Col. Lloyd was a direct descendant of the first provincial Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, Thomas Lloyd, the trusted friend and counselor of William Penn. The Lloyd family were, of course, Quakers and trace their lineage back to a very remote period. The original family seat, Dolobran, in Wales, remained in the possession of the family from 1200 to the time, in 1680, when Thomas Lloyd, throwing aside his ambitions and brilliant prospects, decided to join his friend, William Penn, in establishing a colony in the new world.
Upon his arrival in America, Thomas Lloyd settled on a tract of land near Darby, in Delaware County, and many of his descend ants were still living there as late as 1889. It was here, on November 8, 1801, that Col. Thomas W. Lloyd was born.
Thomas Lloyd is said by Meginness to have been descended from King Edward I, Earl of Chester, the third son of King Henry III, King of England and his wife, Eleanor of Provence. Lloyd was educated at Oxford and became a member of the Society of Friends, was persecuted because of his religious beliefs, and in 1783 left Wales and emigrated to America. Toward the close of the 18th century, Thomas, William and Joseph Lloyd went to Canada, where there are today many descendants of these three brothers.
Thomas W. Lloyd’s immediate family consisted of his father, mother, three brothers, Charles, Pearson and Samuel W. Lloyd, and a sister, Mary. They emigrated to Lycoming County in 1806, and settled on a farm where the old paper mill was later located in Montoursville. His mother’s maiden name was Wood. She had a brother, Henry, who lived and died near Quaker Hill in Eldred Township. The father, Thomas Lloyd, died on the farm in 1816, which farm, after the settlement of the estate, passed into the hands of Charles Lloyd, the eldest son. The widow moved to Williamsport with the rest of the children and died in a house on West Fourth Street, later the residence of Dr. Edward Lyon. The sister, Mary, married General Robert Fleming. Samuel H. Lloyd helped lay out several additions, then adjacent to, and now a part of the City of Williamsport. He lived later in Philadelphia and died there.
Colonel Lloyd received his early education in the little octagonal school house, near the cemetery, in Montoursville, and afterwards became an apprentice in the tanning business with Colonel Joseph R. Paxton, of Catawissa, and while there married Elizabeth Rupert, a sister of Mrs. Paxton and daughter of Judge Leonard Rupert, who then resided on the farm where Rupert Station was later located. Soon after his marriage, Colonel Lloyd moved to Williamsport and carried on the tanning business. He was subsequently elected County Treasurer and soon thereafter purchased five acres of land at the corner of East Third and Penn Streets, and erected a brick dwelling later occupied by the widow of Governor Packer. This he later sold to Peter Vanderbelt in 1835, and moved to East Third and State Streets, just across the alley from the post-office. While residing there he ran for Sheriff and was beaten by seven votes, or was counted out as he always alleged, by a manipulation of the returns from Cherry Township (now a part of Sullivan County), which were opened and doctored to suit by some one from Hughesville.
In 1835 Colonel Lloyd moved to Newberry and went into the general mercantile business with John C. Oliver, who had been an apprentice to Colonel Lloyd in the tanning business. Then in the fall of the same year he was elected Sheriff and moved back to Williamsport. During his term as sheriff, there were three persons convicted of murder. The first conviction was that of John Earls for poisoning his wife, as already recounted in these sketches. The second was that of a man named Miller for killing a peddler on Laurel Hill. The third was that of William Dunlap, for murdering his wife with an axe near Jaysburg. The first two were hung by Sheriff Lloyd, while the third was hung by his successor, John Bennett.
Colonel Lloyd and Daniel Strebeigh entered into contracts for the extension of the North Branch of the Pennsylvania Canal. In 1843 Lloyd was elected Cashier of the West Branch Bank, with John C. Oliver as President. He resigned this position in 1857, when he was appointed Supervisor of the West Branch Canal by Governor Packer. He was a great outdoor man, hunting every season with Governor Packer and Judge Charles D. Eldred. When the Civil War broke out, he issued a call for his hunting friends, for he said he did not want anyone “who could not knock off the head of a squirrel with a rifle at 100 yards.” A large number of this company were exempt from military duty by reason of age.
But the Governor declined their services because there were already more troops than were wanted. (This was about the time that Secretary Seward bragged that he was going to squelch the rebellion in ninety days.) Shortly after this Colonel Lloyd became ill, and after lingering illness, died at the old Governor Schulze Mansion below Montoursville, where he then resided, on October 27 1861. Of his family but three survived him, a daughter living in California, an unmarried daughter in Angelica, New York, and Clinton Lloyd, the subject of this sketch. (Unfortunately, Colonel Thomas W. Lloyd II wrote so much about himself, that he almost failed to mention his more famous father, and hence our facts as to the father are rather meager).
Clinton Lloyd married Charlotte Heberton. He succeeded George F. Boal, of Muncy, as the second elected District Attorney in 1853, and later served 12 years in Washington as chief clerk in the House of Representatives. His period of duty spanned the Lincoln era. He moved to Washington about 1863. Although he was a member of our bar, Meginness simply states that he practiced elsewhere. The bar memorial filed to No. 383, June Term 1900 contains absolutely no facts, so we can only conclude that he died in 1900.
Thomas Wood Lloyd II
Thomas W. Lloyd was born in Williamsport, December 30, 1855, son of Clinton and Charlotte (Heberton) Lloyd. When he was about eight years old, his parents moved to Washington, D. C., where he was educated in private schools. He entered Western University of Pennsylvania, now University of Pittsburgh, and was graduated in 1876. He then studied law and was admitted to the Lycoming County bar in 1878. He continued to practice in Williamsport until 1888, and thereafter for ten years he was an attorney in Washington, D. C. At the end of that period he turned to newspaper work, writing for various newspapers and magazines until 1910 or 1912, when he joined the editorial staff of the Gazette and Bulletin.
In 1878 he was appointed Adjutant of the 12th Regiment, N.G.P., and was appointed Colonel in 1888. He was active in local historical circles. He died January 25, 1936.
William H. Losch
William H. Losch died February 21, 1958, aged 86 years. He was the son of John and Caroline Losch, of Jersey Shore. His wife, Bertha McIlvaine Losch died in 1909, leaving a daughter, Mrs. Donald M. Mylin, of Conestoga, Lancaster County, Pa. Mr. Losch was graduated from Lock Haven State Teachers College, and from Lafayette College in 1899 as valedictorian of his class. He was graduated from Pennsylvania Law School in 1902, at which time he became a member of the Philadelphia bar, and later in 1913 of the Lycoming County bar. He taught in the Jersey Shore schools in 1894, followed by his law practice in Philadelphia. He later moved to Fairmount, West Virginia, where he became associated with D. C. Heath & Company, textbook publishers.
Upon the death of his wife, he moved to Jersey Shore in 1910. He purchased a large peach orchard, and was one of the first men to use power machinery in cultivation. His interests in recent years included development of building lots, known as Cottagedale, in the Larrys Creek section.
In 1944 Mr. Losch was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress from the 17th district. He was defeated in the primary election by Congressman Robert F. Rich, but placed second in a four-way race for the nomination.
He was a Presbyterian, and a member of the Williamsport Consistory, A.A.S.R. He founded the Losch Consumers Supply Company nearly fifty years before, retiring from active business in the summer of 1957. In September 1957, he moved to Lancaster County and resided with his daughter. Apparently he never practiced law to any great extent in Lycoming County.
Seth McCormick Lynn
Seth McCormick Lynn, Esquire, was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on December 7, 1913. He was affectionately known among his many friends and colleagues as Jim. He was the son of Thomas Herbert Lynn and Myra McCormick Lynn. His brother, Thomas Herbert Lynn, Jr. died in 1943. His sister, Isabell Lynn, at the time of Mr. Lynn’s death, resided in Gooseprairie, Washington.
Seth McCormick Lynn attended the public schools of Williamsport, Pennsylvania and the private elementary school then conducted by the old Dickinson Seminary, now known as Lycoming College. He enrolled in Andover Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and was graduated in 1931.
Mr. Lynn was admitted to Yale University but at the end of one year he left, due to economic reasons, this country then being in the depth of the “Great Depression.”
Upon leaving Yale, Mr. Lynn was employed in the law office of Seth T. McCormick, Jr. as a clerk where he began to “read law.” Because he did not have a college degree, he was required to take a college equivalency examination. He successfully met that requirement and “read law” in Mr. McCormick’s office for the prescribed time. He passed the bar examination and on April 27, 1939 was admitted to the practice of law before the courts of Lycoming County. His preceptor, Seth T. McCormick, Jr. moved his admission to that bar. Mr. Lynn was the last person admitted to the practice of law in this county who had not graduated from a law school or a college.
Mr. Lynn thus joined a long succession of McCormicks who had practiced law in this county with great distinction. The man with whom he was first associated in the practice of law was Seth T. McCormick, Jr., Esquire, who was Mr. Lynn’s cousin once removed. Mr. Lynn’s grandfather was Seth T. McCormick, II, Esquire. His great-uncle was Henry C. McCormick, Esquire, who together with Seth T. McCormick, II, constituted the firm of H. C. and S. T. McCormick. H. C. McCormick, Esquire, had been Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. H. C. and S. T. McCormick, II, were sons of the original S. T. McCormick who began the practice of law in the City of Williamsport in the early 1860’s.
On January 1, 1947, Mr. Lynn became a partner in the law firm of McCormick, Herdic & Furst. At that time the partnership consisted of Carl W. Herdic, Esquire, S. Dale Furst, Jr., Esquire, Henry C. McCormick, Esquire, and Mr. Lynn. The partnership continued until September 1, 1949, and on that date Malcolm Muir became a partner in the successor firm of Furst, McCormick, Muir & Lynn. Mr. Lynn practiced with that firm and its successor firms until his retirement from the active practice of law on December 30, 1977.
Mr. Lynn was well known in the profession and among the business leaders of the community for his legal mind and for his ability to express his thoughts, both orally and written with precision.
Most of Mr. Lynn’s practice was devoted to real estate and commercial law. During the early years of his practice, he was privileged to work with Rogers K. Foster, Esquire, who was then an associate in the law offices of Seth T. McCormick, Jr. and the successor firms until Mr. Foster’s death in 1950. By virtue of Lynn’s association with Mr. Foster, he developed a deep and lasting interest in the law of real property. At that time, Rogers K. Foster, Esquire, was recognized as one of the leading authorities on that branch of the law. As a result of the training and association with Rogers K. Foster, Mr. Lynn developed an expertise in the law of real property for which he was recognized by his colleagues at this bar and many other bars as an expert in that field. He had a complete working knowledge of the procedure of the Land Office of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg and at that time, title searches of important properties were taken back to the proprietors of Pennsylvania. Being equipped with that superior knowledge, he was extremely successful in the evaluation of the quality of such titles.
At the time of Mr. Lynn’s retirement, he was a member of the Lycoming Law Association and had served as its president in 1950. He had for many years been a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
In 1934, he married the former Mary Pendred Lego, now deceased. There were three sons born of that marriage, Kenneth M. and Thomas of Williamsport, and Peter R. of Virginia, all of whom survived their father. Mr. Lynn was survived by his widow, the former Jane Krause, now deceased. As a result of this second marriage, one son, Seth McCormick Lynn, Jr., was born.
Seth McCormick Lynn, Esquire died on August 19, 1984 at the age of 70.
65Lycoming Gazette, 8-13-1807-3.
66That this is not pure fabrication on Meginness’ part is proven by the fact that John Kidd’s will dated August 11, 1769, and probated in Lycoming County, in Will Book 1, page 84, refers to his daughter, Rowena born to him by Rowena Keel, of Sunbury. He left his entire estate — which unfortunately was insolvent — to his daughter, Rowena. John Adlum and Robert Gray were appointed executors but did not qualify, so Charles Huston and Samuel Shoemaker (no doubt Rowena’s husband in 1813) were appointed administrators.
67Those interested in the genealogies of the Krause, Barber and related families, are referred to Collins, op cit., pp. 224-7.