My Genealogy Hound

JAMES ANDREW STEESE. The family from whom the subject of this sketch descended came from Europe in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and settled in Pennsylvania, the great-grandfather being Jacob Stiess, whose son Jacob Stiess, the grandfather of our subject, married Barbara Fisler, also of Pennsylvania. Barbara Fisler was a daughter of Ulrich and Madaline Fisler, who also were of German descent. This Jacob Stiess lived most of his life near Harrisburg in Dauphin county, and in course of time the spelling of his name was changed to Stees or Steese.

Jacob and Barbara (Fisler) Steese had twelve sons and four daughters. The most prominent and active members of this large family were the three sons, Isaac, Daniel and Jacob; and the daughter, Esther. The Jacob Steese of this generation belonged to the Lutheran Church, but on the formation of the Church of God some of his children united with that denomination. One of these was Isaac, who became a preacher in that church, and a zealous worker in the Master’s cause. He lived nearly all his days in the city of Harrisburg and its vicinity. Daniel Also joined the Church of God, became an earnest student of the Bible and a local preacher. Esther married George Attick, who was a wagon maker. He settled in Cumberland county, and for a while carried on the business of wagon making at Whorleystown, Monroe township. While George Attick lived at Whorleystown Daniel Steese came to him to learn the trade, and while serving his apprenticeship became acquainted with Sarah Morrett, whom he afterward married. Sarah Morrett was a daughter of Michael and Catharine (Young) Morrett, both of whom were natives of Cumberland county. Michael Morrett was a son of Hartman and Gertrude Morrett; and Catharine Young, a daughter of Matthias and Maria Gertrude (Geyer) Young. Michael Morrett died in 1840; his wife died in 1847, and their remains, and also the remains of the parents of both, are buried in the old graveyard at Churchtown. Daniel and. Sarah (Morrett ) Steese had the following family: Francis Fisler, Mardocheus Fillmore, Samuel Morrett, Daniel Reuben, James Andrew, Mary Esther, and Margaret Catharine. Francis Fisler Steese, the oldest son, on Jan. 27, 1864, at eighteen years of age, enlisted as a private in Company A, 20th Pennsylvania Cavalry, was captured by the Confederates and died in Andersonville prison Oct. 12, 1864. His grave is No. 10,808.

James Andrew Steese, the fifth of these children and the subject of this sketch, was born at Plainfield, Cumberland county, Oct. 14, 1857. As soon as he reached the proper age he was sent to the public schools and in them got all the scholastic training he ever received. Of the teachers of his youth he vividly recalls Miss Kate Gleim, Rev. John Hinkle, Miss Lide Fleming, John Mason Duncan and S. P. Goodyear. When he reached his eighteenth year his parents lived in Mt. Holly Springs, and he obtained employment in the office of the Mt. Holly Paper Company as assistant bookkeeper, and has been connected with that company from that time down to the present. From assistant bookkeeper he rose to the position of chief clerk, and later became a stock holder in the company. In 1881 he was made director, and has been a member of the board of directors ever since. In 1900 he was elected president of the company, a position he is holding now. He also has long been secretary of the Mt. Holly Stationery and Printing Company, another of the manufacturing enterprises of his town. In politics, he is a Republican, and much interested in public affairs, local, State or National. He has been a member of the Mt. Holly Springs school board for many years, and treasurer of the Cumberland County School Directors’ Association since its organization. He also belongs to the Pennsylvania State Educational Association. He is a member of the class of 1887, of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, and a stockholder in the Pennsylvania Chautauqua. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, also a member of the Knights of Pythias and member of several other fraternal organizations.

In 1881 James A. Steese married Miss Anna L. Schaeffer, daughter of Charles W. and Martha (Zug) Schaeffer, of South Middleton township, and to them five children have been born, viz.: James Gordon, John Zug, Charles Mullin, Sophia Mayberry and George Morrett. James G., the oldest son, graduated from Dickinson College in 1901, and is now a cadet in West Point Military Academy; John Z., the second son, is a member of the Junior class at Dickinson College; Charles M. is a member of the Sophomore class at Dickinson; and Sophia is a graduate, and George M. a student, of the Mt. Holly high school. Mr. Steese and family affiliate with the Methodist Episcopal Church of Mt. Holly Spring’s, of which church Mr. Steese is a trustee. He is teacher of the Bible class in the Sunday school of this church, and has been treasurer of the Sunday school for twenty-five years.