My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM H. WISE, of Lemoyne, Cumberland county, was born Nov. 12, 1843, in Kishacoquillas Valley, Mifflin county, Pa., a son of an old resident farmer of that locality. His education was obtained in his native place and he was reared to farm work.

In 1861 Mr. Wise was one of the first of that great army, of the very flower of the land, that responded to the President’s call for defenders of the Union, enlisting for three months in Company D. 5th P. V. I. After serving out his time he came home and again engaged in farming, until 1863, when he re-enlisted, this time entering the 22d P. V. C., for six months. At Chambersburg he was detailed to the United States Signal Corps, and located at Maryland Heights, performed the duties required of him, and was honorably discharged a second time. Feb, 5. 1864. Mr. Wise worked for a time at railroading, but as the war still continued he enlisted, for the third time, in Company A, 101st P. V. I., and served until June 235, 1865, when he was mustered out at Newbern, N. C. He returned to railroading and was fireman on his old division when, in 1867, he was sent to Huntingdon, to take charge of the roundhouse there. In 1872 he began firing again, and on March 4, 1873, he was promoted to freight engineer on the same division, as a reward of his close attention to duty and fidelity to his employers. In 1879 he left the company and for a few months worked on the new postoffice building at Harrisburg, and then went into the Altoona railway shops. In 1880 he went to Boiling Springs and ran an engine on the Harrisburg & Potomac, now the Reading, railroad. On March 14, 1887, he became connected with the roundhouse of the Cumberland Valley railroad at White Hill, and was put in charge of the engine house March 25, 1890, a position he has held most efficiently ever since.

In 1865 Mr. Wise was married (first) to Penelope A. Orner, daughter of William and Matilda Orner, the latter still surviving. Four children were born to this marriage: Maggie, Mrs. Duncan, of Columbus, Ohio; Minnie C., Mrs. Keathley, of Altoona, Pa.; Harry, clerk of the “Brant Hotel.” at Altoona; and Herbert, a railroad man. In 1882, at Boiling Springs, Mr. Wise was married (second) to Anna M. Scharf, daughter of Jacob Scharf; her mother died when she was quite young. The children of this marriage are: George H., Frank, Earl and Hazel, all at home.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Wise are consistent members of the Christian Church at Lemoyne, of which he is a trustee. Politically, he is identified with the Republican party. He belongs to the G. A. R., Post No. 58, Harrisburg, and takes a great interest in all that affects legislation in favor of the old heroes. For more than thirty years he has been a member of the fraternal order of the Brotherhood of Engineers.

Mr. Wise is a son of Samuel and Ann Eliza (Etter) Wise, the former of whom was born in Lancaster county, and was a shoemaker by trade. The latter was the daughter of Jacob Etter, who kept the “Block House Hotel,” on Paxton street, Harrisburg, and ran the ferry across the river before the building of bridges. Soon after his marriage Samuel Wise settled in Huntingdon county, where he followed his trade and farmed, and there his wife died in 1887. He passed away six years later. Their children were: Ada, Mrs. Metz, who removed to Ohio and died there; Miss Mary Jane; William H., of this sketch; Ella, Mrs. Grimison, who lived and died in Huntingdon county; Annie, Mrs. Myers, deceased; and Jerome and George, of Council Bluffs, Iowa.