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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES
a paper which is a model after which many countiy weeklies could lake paltcm with ad vantage. A s a writer Mr. Randall is famous, both tor truth and fearlessness, and he is a factor in the dci'clopmcnt and prosperity of the section of the State in which he resides. T he paocr is Democratic in politics, but Mr. Randall docs not allow partisanship to blind him to the virtues o f his i>olitical u]>ponents or the defects o f his partisans. In September, t88o. Mr. Randall was m ar ried to Elizabeth J . Search, o f W ilkcs-Barrc, and they have two children: Eugene Y ., a mining engineer in the employ of the Susque hanna Coal Com rany at Nanticoke, Ra., and Ruth E sser, w ife o f Sterling E . Young, a hardware merchant, o f Catawissa. She has one child, Elizabeth Emerson. T he fam ily arc members of the Lutheran Church and M r. Randall is a member of the Benevolent and Protective O rder o f E lk s, In dependent O rder o f Odd Fellows. Knights of the Golden F-ngle, Patriotic O rder ^ n s of Am erica, Royal Arcanum, Grand Fraternity and Fraternal O rder o f Eagles. He is atso a vice president of the Columbia County H is torical Society. JO H N S . M E N S C H . who has a valuable farm in Montour township, Columbia county, about two and a half miles west o f Dloomsbun;. is one u f the well known citizens o f his section, in whose advancement and improve ment he has taken an active part. H e was bom M ay 19, 1837, in Franklin townsliip. Columb b rounty, son of Michael Mensch. The Mensch famtly is an old one in this county. Johannes Christian Mensch, great grandfather o f John S., having founded it here over a ccntuiy ago. He was a native of G cm jany. bom Jan. 3 1, 1745, and his wife, .Sabina, was liom in that country Feb. 8. 1753. T hey came to this country accomjwnied by his brothers Adam (bom Ju n e 2, 174— ) and Abraham fbom Feb. 25, 17 5 0 ). and for a time lived in Berks county. P a. Subsequently they hrought their family to Columbia county, settling in what is now Franklin township, where they had a tract o f 400 acres. Here Johannes G iristian Mensch lived and died, his death occurring Oct. 26. 1826, when he was aged cighty-onc years, eight months, twentysix d ay s; he is buried at Catawissa. Ills w ife died Ju n e 10. 1829, aged seventy-six years, four months, two days. T hey had the following children: .Adam became a farm er and miller o f Roaringcreek township; .Abraham, liom Jan . 24, 1774. was a farm er
in what is now Montour county fo r a time, afterw ards moving to Buffalo valley. Union county, where he owned about five hundred acres o f land (his fam ily is still in that sec tio n ); John is mentioned below; Peter ob t a in ^ part o f his father's homestead in Co lumbia county, but later settled in Black Hole valley, in Lycoming county, Pa., where he fo l lowed fam iing until his death; one daughter. M rs. Keiser, w as married in Berks county and died there; M rs. Rodcnbcrgcr also m arried in Berks county and died there. John Mensch, son o f Johannes Christian, w as bom Nov. 5. 1789. in Berks county, and came to this section with his father. Inherit ing part of the old homestead, he acquired the rest by purchase, and there passed his life. H e w as a prosperous farm er and made many improvements upon the place, including the erection o f a fine large ham . He died in June, <875. aged cighty-fivc years, six months, twenty-five days, and is buried at Catawissa. H is w ife, Catherine HeimUach, bom Oct. t6. 1796, died Ju n e 20, 1872, aged seventy-five years, eight months, fo u r days. T hey had children: Sarah married Joseph Reitz, and (second) Isaac l i c ^ r; Michael is mentioned ^ l o w; Hliza married G iarles B ittin g; Jesse married Catherine Sh u ltz; Christian married M argaret Crom eley; M aria married W ash ington P a r r; W illiam married Catherine L c ib y; A bby married I.afayettc R eitz; Cathe rine married John Sidler and (second) Jo n a than Loarman. Michael Mensch, bom A pril i t . 18 16, on the old homestead in Franklin township, became the owner o f part o f that place and followed farm ing. L ater he purchased a sn u ll tract in the same township to which he removed, re maining on that property until his death, which o c c u rr^ Dec. 15 . 1884. H e was active in the affairs of the township, serving as school di rector and supervisor. H is w ife, a daughter o f John Shuman, was bom M ay 9, 18 16 . and died Feb. 26, 1902. T hey are buried in Cata wissa cemetery. T hey were the parents o f four children: John S .; Thomas M., deceased; Catherine, Mrs. Owen C layton; and Matilda. M rs. William Beniiinger. John S . Mensch w as reared upon the farm and attended public school in the locality. He remained at home until twenty-one years old. when he went W est to Illinois, engaging in fam iing there. A fte r a short stay he returned home and found employment driving a team in Bloomsburg. for Boyd M cK elvy. 'Hien for two years he worked at home for his father, receiving fifty cents a day and his board, and
