My Genealogy Hound

JAMES KLINE is a highly respected representative of good English and Welsh stock.

Jacob Kline, his paternal grandfather, was born in England, and upon his arrival in this country settled below Lisburn Forge, on the York county side, where he followed the occupation of shoemaking. All shoes at that time were hand made, and the old lap stone used by Jacob Kline is in the possession of his grandson at the present time, and it is regarded as one of the most valuable of the many relics in the family homestead. Edward Jones, grandfather of James Kline on the maternal side, was a veteran of the war of 1812. He was a farmer, and lived at the foot of Round Top, York county, and there he died at a ripe old age.

Jacob R. Kline, father of James, was born near Lisburn Forge, in York county, Dec. 23, 1799. Upon reaching manhood, he, for twenty-three years, taught school in that vicinity. In politics he was noted for being a strong Whig, and he was ready at all times to champion the principles of the Whig party. He died in 1841. His wife, Nancy Jones, was born in 1799, and died in 1854.

James Kline was born in Andersontown, York county. After a few years schooling, at an early age he started to work for Robert Bryson, making bricks and digging wells, at which he continued for three years, when he went to farming. For a period of about sixteen years he worked on various farms, and then bought a farm of 110 acres near Siddonsburg, York county, which he cultivated for three years, and then sold it to John E. Kraybill. After the sale of his farm he moved to Lisburn, and engaged in the general merchandise business. At the end of one year he sold out, and moved to Bowmansdale, and engaged in the same business. In 1880 he bought a fine farm of 108 acres, a short distance from Bowmansdale, and in 1883 he moved from Bowmansdale, and located on his farm on which he still resides.

In politics Mr. Kline is a strong Republican. He has been at various times a supervisor of the township in which he resides, but as a rule has steadily refused to accept any other offices. Although his maternal ancestors were Quakers, he did not follow in their footsteps, but is an earnest consistent Christian, and a member of the denomination known as the Church of God.

In 1858 Mr. Kline was married to Mary Traver, who died in 1878. In 1882 he married Sadie Fritz and she died in 1892. On August 19, 1903, he married Laura Shettel. He has five sons: John G., buyer and manager for Gabel & Co., Altoona, Pa.; James A., head of the firm of Kline, Sickle & Co., Harrisburg; Herman E., engaged in farming; Jacob R., engaged in the stock yards in Mechanicsburg; and Andrew J., buyer for Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.