James C. Lauffer

  General Notes:

From the 1906 Lauffer History:

James C. Lauffer, Attorney at Law, of Greensburg, Pa., was born Nov. 10, 1873, in a log house in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland Co, Pa, opposite Apollo, where the town of Vandergrift Heights now stands. It was here that he spent the early years of his life helping his father on the farm and attending Evan's school in the winter, until in the Spring of 1869 he moved to Penn township, near Harrison City, Pa., where he continued helping his father on the farm in the summer and attending Holtzers school in the winter. In January 2891 he entered the preparatory department of the Greensburg Seminary. Entered Heidelberg University at Tiffin, Ohio in the Fall of 1892; graduated from the Ohio Normal University in the Summer of 1897. Began the study of law in the fall of 1897 under the firm of Spiegel & McGeary of Greensburg, Pa; was admitted to the Westmoreland County Bar on the third day of November 1900, and took up the practice of law in the McClauslin Building, West Otterman street, Greensburg, Pa., with Charles K. McCreary. He was married to Amanda Carpenter Sherrick, of Mount Pleasant, Pa., July 27, l904 and this union was blessed by one son, James Sherrick.!He was instrumental in organizing the Merchants Trust Company in Greens- burg, with a capitol of $200,000 of which he was a director and was secretary of the Greensburg Reality Company.

From the Westmoreland County Biographical:

JAMES C. LAUFFER - James C. Lauffer, an eminent attorney of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, was a member of an extremely old and highly respected family which for many generations made its abode in this region of the State. The first ancestor of which there is any very definite record was Christian Lauffer, of whom there seems to be little doubt that he was the pioneer in Westmoreland county, though it is probable that the family was founded in America one or even two generations before. The origin of the family remains to a large extent in doubt, but from the traditions which have been handed down from generation to generation of Lauffers, there is practically no doubt that they came from the Palatine in Germany and that the cause of their ancestor's migration was a desire for religious liberty not accorded him at home. In this connection it is very interesting to note that in the Dutchy of Baden, not far from the town of Buhl, there is a little village by the name of Lauffer which numbers about four hundred inhabitants and it seems extremely probable that this was the family's early home. In regard to the name itself, one of two alternate theories is probably correct, and either the village was named after some ancient ancestor, who was the most prominent man in the community, or else, as so often happens, after his migration, the name of the town from which he came was given to the immigrants. However this may be, we know that several men of this name were settlers in Pennsylvania prior to 1751, as their names appear in “Ruffs Thirty Thousand Names” (page 260), which was published September 23, 1751. Like so many names of that date, we find it under many variations, such as Lauffer, Laffer and Laufner, and there is some reason to believe that one Christian Laufner was the father of the Christian Lauffer already mentioned as the pioneer in Westmoreland county. He appears in “Ruffs Thirty Thousand Names” and it is possible and even probable that he came to the country before the registration of 1827 began. There is no direct proof of this, however, nor even of the fact that he was Christian Lauffer's father, although this is strongly suggested by the identity of their first names. But it is of course possible that any one of a number of the other Lauffers mentioned may have borne that relation to him. Some little light is thrown upon the matter possibly by an ancient will discovered in the office of the register of wills of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania and which was the last testament of one Conrad Lawfer, entered on the 2nd of May, 1753. This is published in the extremely interesting volume entitled “The Lauffer History,” which was published in 1905 by three of Christian Lauffer's descendants, namely, Joseph A. Lauffer of Greensburg; Dr. Charles A. Lauffer of Manor and Henry Z. Lauffer of Jeannette, Pennsylvania. These three gentlemen have collected a large volume of valuable information on the subject of their early genealogy.

The great balance of evidence is in favor of the year 1774 as the date of Christian Lauffer's coming to Westmoreland county, this being the date given by his son, John Lauffer, and we are informed that on November 13, 1771, he bought forty acres of land in the county of Northampton, Pennsylvania. His birth occurred in 1730, so that he was a man of middle age when he came to Westmoreland county. He brought with him a considerable household, including several married children, and his entire family with the exception of his son Peter. He was the father of eleven children in all, six sons and five daughters, as follows: Bartol, Christian, Jr., Henry, mentioned below; John, Peter, Adam, Elizabeth, Susanna, Catherine, Mary and Magdelenna. It was no light matter to journey so far into the wilderness in those days, and in addition to the great hardships endured, not only upon the journey itself, but even more subsequently in wresting a meager living from the unwilling and savage region, were also to be found very real perils in the shape of the hostile savages into who haunts they had penetrated and who did not fail to look upon them as trespassers. But against all these obstacles, the steadfast courage and determination of the settlers prevailed so that now the progress from the forest-covered section of that day to one of the greatest industrial regions of the country seems little short of miraculous. Christian Lauffer settled near Pleasant Unity, but the exact location of his original home is not known. He was buried in the old Bash Cemetery, near Pleasant Unity, but unfortunately no tombstone marks the grave. Christian Lauffer was, like most of the member of his family, a member of the Reformed church, and undoubtedly occupied a prominent place in the community. He was a staunch patriot and several of his sons were active in the disturbances of that time and took part in the Revolution.

Henry Lauffer, third son of Christian Lauffer, the pioneer, was born in the month of October, 1753, and accompanied his father to Westmoreland County when the latter removed there in 1774. There he settled and followed the occupation of farming during his entire life on a part of the old Lauffer homestead near Pleasant Unity. His farm is now in the possession of Mr. Simon Trice. He was an active man and we find in the Pennsylvania Archives, Volume twenty-three, page two hundred and twenty-six, third series, that he was enrolled amount the “Rangers of the Frontiers,” 1778 to 1783. Henry Lauffer was still to be regarded as a young man at the time of his death. He was sixty-seven years old, but possessed great physical and mental vigor, and his death occurred as the result of an injury to his foot, which later became infected. His wife, who was Barbara Alliman before he marriage, survived him twenty-five years, spending those years with her son, Henry Lauffer, Jr. and later with her daughter Polly, then Mrs. Jacob Gress, of Pine run, near North Washington, Westmoreland county. They were the parents of five children, as follows: Henry, Jr., John, mentioned below; Susanna, Mary (Polly) and Elizabeth.

John Lauffer, second son of Henry Lauffer, was born July 1, 1789, on his father's place near Pleasant Unity. He passed his life on a farm in Franklin Township, Westmoreland County, and followed that occupation continuously up to the time of his death, February 4, 1873, at the age of eighty-three years, seven months and four days. He married Elizabeth Andrews, born December 31, 1795, and died October 31, 1877, at the age of eighty-two years and ten months. They are buried side by side in the old Hill's Cemetery at Manordale, Pennsylvania. John and Elizabeth (Andrews) Lauffer were the parents of the following children: 1. George, born march 31, 1912, married Catherine Hill; died July 19, 1860. 2. Hannah, born 1814; became the wife of Daniel Geiger; she died in 1885. 3. Mary, born January 18, 1815; married July 10, 1937, Andrew cline. 4. Elizabeth, born March 20, 1818; married, September , 1834, Joseph Hill; residence, Ridgeview, West Virginia; she died March, 1905. 5. Henry, born April 28, 1820; married Susannah Cline; he died December 4, 1981; buried in Ridge Church Cemetery. 6. Jacob, born July 15, 1822; married, June 25, 1844, M.M.M. Rosenberger, his death occurring May 6, 1896, interred at Apollo. 7. William, mentioned below. 8. Peter, born January 16, 1827; married October 9, 1851, Anna M. Stockum; died August 4, 1886, and is buried in Hill's Cemetery. 9. Sarah, born January 29, 1829, married, December 19, 1850, Josiah Kemerer. 10. Lydia, born July 27, 1831; married, August 1861, Jacob W. Kemerer; she died December 24, 1893, interred in Hill's Cemetery. 11. Joseph, born December 21, 1833; married, February 24, 1859, Ester Berlin; died April 21, 1894. 12. Anna, born April 2, 1838; married, April 20, 1858, . Rumbaugh, and (second) Charles Meyers.

William Lauffer, seventh child and fourth son of John and Elizabeth (Andrews) Lauffer, was born November 6, 1824, in Mount Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. Shortly after his birth his parents removed to Manordale, in Franklin township, and it was with this place that his earliest associations were formed. Here he gained his education, and as soon as he reached an appropriate age, was set to work on his father's farm. Shortly afterwards he secured a position in a saw mill, where he worked for a few years. His religious education had not been neglected, and while still a small child he was baptized by Dr. N. P. Hacke. Upon reaching the age of thirteen years, he joined the Emanuel German Reformed Church, becoming a full communicant thereof. Like many of his ancestors and relatives, he had a strong taste for farm life, and in the spring of 1852 purchased a property of George McCreary, near the town of Warren (now Apollo) in Allegheny township, and there removed in the spring of the following year. Here he took up farming and met with a high degree of success for a number of years. He made his home here for a period of some thirty-six years and then in 1889, removed to the David Yount farm, which was situated near the scene of his early boyhood days in Penn township, near Harrison City, Pennsylvania. In this charming and congenial spot he spent the remainder of his years. William Lauffer was a staunch supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, yet he was a man with whom partisan considerations weighed very little, and in the matter of local elections he cast his vote without a thought to the matter, giving his ballot to the man or issue which he approved, without regard to the origin of the candidacy. He was a very well-known figure in the neighborhood, and was familiarly termed by his associates “Bill Lauffer” and enjoyed a wide popularity and well-earned respect, both for his integrity and virtue. It was often said by one man to another in that region, in way of admonition, “you should be as honest as Bill Lauffer.”

William Lauffer married, June 20, 1861, at Apollo, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Spence, and they were the parents of the following children: 1. Anna Mary, born February 21, 1863, died October 5, 1965, and was interred at Denmark Manor. 2. Ella Zilla, born December 24, 1964; married November 10, 1888, Edward Spencer; died July 2, 1897, and was interred at Denmark Manor. 3. A son, born October 3, 1866, died February 19, 1867, and interred at Denmark Manor. 4. William Grant, born December 29, 1867, died November 3, 1870. 5. Ida Jane, born September 9, 1870; became the wife of J. Merch Kistler of Harrison City, Pennsylvania. 6. James C., mentioned below.

Born November 10, 1873, in a log house in Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, at a point about opposite Apollo, where the town of Vandergrift Heights now is situated, James C. Lauffer was fortunate enough to experience that magnificent training, incidental to farm life, which until very recently was perhaps the normal training of the American youth, and which has produced so strong and capable a citizenship. During his early life he spent his time assisting his father, William Lauffer, on the latter's farm, doing such work as his increasing strength would permit, while in the winter he attended Holtzers School. A little later, in January, 1891, he entered the preparatory department of the Greensburg Seminary, where he was prepared for college. He then matriculated at Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio, in the fall of 1892, from which he later was transferred to the Ohio Normal University. He graduated from the latter institution in the summer of 1897, having established an unusually fine record for character and scholarship at all of the institutions which he attended. In the meantime, Mr. Lauffer had determined to follow the law as an occupation in life, and with this end in view entered the law office of the well-known attorneys, Spiegel & McCreary, of Greensburg, where he pursued his studies to such good purpose that he was admitted to the bar of Westmoreland County, November 3, 1900. Immediately thereafter he opened an office in the McCauslin building, West Otterman Street, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in partnership with Charles K. McCreary, and began the practice of law. From the outset the firm met with a high degree of success, and Mr. Lauffer soon became admittedly one of the leaders of the Greensburg bar. He was a man of unusual organizing ability, and having devoted his entire attention to that department of effort had doubtless become one of the leading financiers in the entire region. As it was, he took an excessively prominent part in this department of the community's life, and it was he who was instrumental in organizing the Merchants Trust Company of Greensburg with a capital of two hundred thousand dollars. For a number of years he occupied the office of director therein and was holding that position at the time of his death. He was also secretary of the Greensburg Realty Company and in these two capacities played a very influential part in Greensburg business affairs.

James C. Lauffer was united in marriage, July 27, 1904, with Amanda Carpenter Sherrick, of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. James c. Lauffer the following children were born: James Sherrick, died July 27, 1908; Dean Carpenter, born October 28, 1906, Edwin Calvin, born November 7, 1910. The two boys now attending school in Greensburg.

The death of Mr. Lauffer, which occurred January 27, 1913, at his home in Greensburg, was felt as a serious loss by the entire community, while those who knew him well experienced a gap in the course of their lives which it will be very difficult to fill. Mr. Lauffer's family was of that sturdy and capable American stock which had given so many strong men to this country, and he represented in his own person their virtues and ability. It is not any too common to find united in one personality a high degree of ability in worldly affairs with a marked talent for those more theoretical and idealistic studies which are one side at least of the professions. When, however, such a dual taste exists originally, and each side of it is too strong to submit to a choking out process on the part of the other, they commonly end by becoming staunch allies and materially serving each other in their mutual development. The reason for this is not far to seek. To most of us one interest is sufficient to occupy our entire attention, not because there does not exist in each and all of us latent powers and faculties which, under favorable conditions, might flower and bear fruit, but because we simply have neither time nor energy to foster them, so that they die a natural death, often before their presence is realized at all. When on the other hand, through greater mental activity or some other circumstance, these tendencies survive and flourish, we invariably have men capable of accomplishing notable results in a number of different lines, such a man for instance as James C. Lauffer, in whose case the imaginative faculty tended but to stimulate and spur the practical test, while the latter reciprocated by modifying the hard environment and producing conditions in which the former might the more readily develop.

James married Amanda Carpenter Sherrick.