412
COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
vestrymen. For years he has beeti connected with Mahoning L^dge, X o. 5 16 . F . & A . M.. Danville Chapter. No. 2AQ. R . .A. M .. Calvary Commandery, N o. 37, K . T ., Caldwell Con sistory. and the .Vlystic Shrine, as well as the Elks. On Feb. 29, 1888, M r. Hancock w as m ar ried to Adda L . Krebs, a daughter o f Simon Krebs, and five sons have been bom to this union: William K .. Charles (w ho died in in fan cy). John. Robert G . and W alter E. Simon Krd>s, father o f .Mrs. Hancock, was bom in Gcm iany .April 10, 1839, a son o f John and Catherine Krebs. John Krebs w as born in Germany in 1809. and came to the United States in 1*855. locating at Tamai|ua, Schuyl kill Co., i ’a.. .spending the remainder o f his life there, and dying at the age o f ninety-three years. F o r some time he farmed, but he also conducteil a vinegar plant and manufactured wine. Simon Krebs, son o f John K rebs, lived in (iem iany until he was fifteen years old, at which time he was brought to the United States by his parents. He learned the car penter's trade, and developed into a contractor o f note, .among other contracts carrying out that o f building the Danville waterworks (at a cost o f $16 5,0 0 0 ). and in conjunction with his son-in-law, Charles 1’. Hancock, built the Danville & Sunbury street railway. Fonnerly a resident o f Danville, he moved to Som er set. I’ a., where he has been president and supcrintemlent of the Listic Mining & Manu facturing Company. In 1865 M r. Krebs married Harriet Swartz, a daughter o f Jacolj Sw artz, a m er chant o f Tamaqua, I’ennsvlvania. Both the Hancock and K rebs families liavc exerted a powerful influence, along varied lines, in the development o f Montour county and adjacent sections, and those who spring from either ought to feel pride in what their forebears have accomplished. Not only have Mr. Hancock and M r. K rebs enriched them selves. hut they have brought outside capital into this region and given employment to hundre«ls of the residents of their several communities, affording the means for up right. decent living. ISA .A C X . C R I E R, who during his active years was one of the leading attorneys of Danville and Montour county, and prtunincnt in many business enterprises, w as bom in that l»rough Dec. 27. 18.35. an<l ® Michael C . and Isabella (Alontgom cry) Gricr. lie is a great-grandson, on the maternal side.
o f Gen. Willi&m Montgomery, who took a prominent part in the Revolutionary war, and whose son, Daniel, was the founder o f Dan ville. Col. John G ricr, paternal great-grandfather o f Isaac X . G ricr, w as o f Scotch-Irish e x traction, and together with many other P ro t estants came to Am erica about the year 174O. H e w as a farm er, and resided below C h ^ bersburg. Pa. Kev. Isaac G rier, S. T . D., son o f Col. Jo h n G ricr, was the first minister on the west branch of the Susquehanna river. H e w as pastor o f a Presbyterian Church at Northum berland and also in Clinton county, and fo r several years w as president of the old “ B rick College” at Northumberland. H is death o c curred in 1 8 12 or 18 13 . H e married E liza beth Cooper, daughter o f Rev. Dr. Thom as Cooper, pastor of the .Middle Spring I ’resbytcrian Church, who organized a com|>any at the breaking out of the Revolulionary w ar. and was for a time attached to the staff o f General Washington as chaplain. .Among their children w ere: Robert C ., who became by appointment o f President Polk, in 1846, a justice of the Supreme court o f tlic United States, and served as such until his resigna tion, in 18 7 0 : Tltomas C, principal of the Danville .Academy, who died comparatively you n g: Kcv. Isaac, D. D., a graduate o f Princeton University and pastor for over fifty years of the Presbyterian churches o f White Deer, Lycoming county, and Buffalo Crossroads, Union county; John C.. who first settled in I.tanviilc. where he conductcil a mer cantile business until about 1846, then a resi dent for a few years o f W ilkes-Barre, Pa., later removing lo Peoria. III., where he died, leaving several sons and daughters (a name sake o f his, John G ricr Hibben. is now presi dent o f Princeton U n iv e rsity ); William N ., who graduated from W est Point about 1836, and w as stationed at various frontier forts up to the b ^ in n in g of the C ivil war. being at that time colonel of the tst Regiment. U. S . Cavalry, later commissioned brigadier gen e ra l; Martha, who became the w ife of the late Gen. Robert O rr, o f Kittanning. P a . : Jan e, w ife of William Hibler, o f W ilkesnarre. P a .: Elizabeth, w ife o f Rev. I ^ , Thomas C. Strong, for more than fifty years p.astor of the Dutch Reformed Church at Flatbtish, l4>ng Island: M argaret, w ife o f Henry Sprout, o f Pittsburgh, P a .; and Michael Cooper. Michael Cooper C rier, son o f Rev. Isaac G rier, was a merchant in early life, and later