Biographical Sketch of William STRAUB (1831-1900)

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Source: Anon. 1896. Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. J.M. Runk & Co., Publ., Chambersburg, PA.

STRAUB, William. Farmer and stockman, Berrysburg, Pa., was born in Schuylkill county, Pa., September 21, 1831; son of John and Christiana (Hime) [HEIM] Straub.

John Straub was also born in Schuylkill county, and was a son of John Straub, farmer and mill owner of that county, where he died. John Straub, Jr., was also a farmer, and cultivated several rented farms in his native county, where he died in 1845. His wife Christiana Hime, was born in Northumberland county. Their children were: Angeline, deceased, wife of Jere [Jeremiah] Matter, engineer; William; Elizabeth, deceased, wife of David Seal [SEALE]; Samuel, Lykens township, Dauphin county; Amos, farmer, Mifflin township; Sarah, died young; Mary, wife of John Wetmore[WITMER], Seven Points, Northumberland county. Mr. Straub was a Democrat. He was a member of the Lutheran church. The second husband of Mrs. Straub, was Valentine Savage; they had a daughter, Alice, wife of Henry Hamhulse, of Schuylkill county. Mrs. Savage died at the home of her son, William Straub, in 1880.

Note: The daughter of Valentine SAVAGE/SAVIDGE & Christina HEIM was named Elmira, not Alice, and she married William Henry UMHOLTZ.

William Straub attended subscription schools for a short time each year, during the winter season, but his school advantages were very limited, as he went to work on the farm when he was six years of age. He worked for his father until he was fourteen, when his father died, after which he hired out to do farm work, receiving as wages $4 per month. He worked in this way for three or four years and then learned shoemaking and worked for four years at that trade. He then came to Mifflin township, Dauphin county and for three years was a teamster for Mr. Martin Curtin, a storekeeper; then drove the mail stage from Millersburg to Fremont, Schuylkill county. He then rented and cultivated for sixteen years a farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres in Mifflin township. Having by this time saved some money, Mr. Straub bought, in 1873, his present farm of thirty acres from Daniel Matter, on which there was an old house. In 1875 he bought thirty additional acres near the homestead, built a fine house as a dwelling, and one of the best barns in the township, costing over $5,000. He afterwards bought of G.J. Miller a farm of eighty acres. He cultivated all this land and engaged extensively in stock-breeding. He has been and is still a very industrious man. In his younger days it was his custom to work on the farm in the day time and drive a huckster wagon at night. He has been very successfully engaged in huckstering for forty-five years.

William Straub was married, in Mifflin township, in December, 1853, to Elizabeth Hultzman, born in Mifflin township, in 1837; daughter of Jonathan Hultzman, farmer, Mifflin township. Their children are: John N., Harrisburg, Pa.; Mary, wife of John Dockey, who farms the homestead; Charles, deceased; Norman, farmer, Mifflin township; Emma, wife of Henry Howe, farmer, Mifflin township; Harry, farmer, on homestead; Katie, wife of Jacob U. Hartman, farmer, Mifflin township. Mrs. Straub died in 1890, since when Mrs. Mary Dockey has been her father’s housekeeper.

Mr. Straub is a Democrat. He is a member of the Lutheran church, new school, and for a number of years has been a trustee of the church, to which he gives liberally. He contributed over $600 for building the house of worship. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Knights of Pythias, and the Grange. Mr. Straub is a man of good common sense, enterprising and active, and is very successful business man. He began farming with $50 and a horse and buggy; planted an orchard of five acres, worked hard, and was rewarded with the most gratifying success.

Family Group Sheets

John STRAUB II & Christina HEIM

Valentine SAVIDGE & Mary REED & Christina HEIM

William STRAUB & Elizabeth HOLTZMAN

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