596 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



part of the famous ■"Iron Brigade." Mr. 

 Sherwood participaiou i;i a number of im- 

 portant engagements, nicluding the battles 

 of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chanceilors- 

 ville, Gettysburg and others, which wtre 

 numbered among the decisive actions of 

 the war, and when hostiHties had ceased 

 received an honorable discharge, having 

 rendered signal service to his country. He 

 maintains pleasant relations with his old 

 army comrades through his membership 

 in Wilkeson Post, No. g, G. A. R., of Buf- 

 falo, New York, for during a quarter of 

 a century he was a resident of that city. 

 After the war Mr. Sherwood again went 

 upon the road as a commercial traveler, and 

 was thus employed until 1901, when he re- 

 moved to Philadelphia, where he was en- 

 gaged in the real estate business until De- 

 cember, 1903, when his son purchased the 

 old Enos Gail estate, in New Britain town- 

 ship, where he now resides, living retired 

 from further business cares. He is a Re- 

 publican in his political views, stanchly 

 advooatinp^ the principles of that party, and 

 he belongs to the Episcopalian church. 



Mr. Sherwood was united in marriage 

 to Miss Eliza J. Larrabee. a daughter of 

 William N. and Betsy (Robe) Larrabee, m 

 whose family were the following named : 

 John H., born in 1842; Eliza J., in 1844; 

 Lucian, in 1846; William Edwin, in 1848; 

 Charles, in 1850; and Fanny, in 1852. ]Mr. 

 and Mrs. Sherwood have one son, Harry 

 Miller Sherwood, who was born June 17, 

 1869. He is a graduate of the high school 

 of Buffalo, New York, and also of the 

 pharmaceutical department of the Bufifalo 

 University. He completed his course with 

 high honors and for five years, was en- 

 gaged in the business in Buffalo, New York, 

 for which his college- training fitted him. 

 He has now been in business in Philadel- 

 phia, Pennsylvania, for -the last five years. 



JOHN ZIEGLER RUFE. One of the 

 self-made men of Bucks, county is John 

 Ziegler Rufe, of Quakertown. Mr. Rufe is 

 a son of John Rufe, who was born about 

 1797, and in early life followed the carpen- 

 ter's trade. He subsequently purchased a 

 farm and devoted his remaining years to 

 agricultural pursuits. He married Mary 

 Magdaline Ziegler, who was born Febru- 

 ary 9, 1802, and their children were: 1. 

 Harriet, who married Aaron, son of Henry 

 Worman, and they were the parents of 

 three sons and three daughters. 2. Cath- 

 arine, who married (first) Dr.' William 

 Wildermuth, of Pottstown, and after his 

 death became the wife of Isaac Wolfinger, 

 of Tinicum township. 3. Samuel, married 

 Lydia Allen. 4. Sarah, became the wife of 

 Reed C. Weaver, of Ottsville, and after his 

 death married Addison Hess, of Spring- 

 town. 5. Lucy Ann, married Francis 

 T^Taurer. 6. .\aron, married Susan Calf, of 

 Tinicum, and has four sons — Willis R., de- 

 ceased, Clinton, John, Albert ; and one 



daughter, Ida, who married William Nash. 

 7. Elizabeth, who married Henry Piloom, of 

 New Jersey. 8. John Ziegler, mentioned at 

 length hereinafter. 9. Matilda, who is the 

 wife of Wilson Lear, a farmer of Erwinna. 

 10. Emma Jane, who married Thomas C. 

 Harpel, the proprietor of a hotel at Otts- 

 ville. II. Adaline, who became the wife- of 

 James Carver, of Tinicum township. Mrs. 

 Rufe, the exemplary mother of this large 

 family, died October 6, 1876. The death- 

 of her husband occurred several years- 

 earlier. 



John Ziegler Rufe, son of John and ]\Iary 

 Magdaline (Ziegler) Rufe, was born Feb- 

 ruary 19, 1835, on the homestead in Tini- 

 cum township, now occupied by his brother 

 ,. Aaron. He attended until his sixteenth 

 year a public school which had been es- 

 tablished as the result of a bill introduced 

 in congress by Thaddeus Stevens. He then 

 entered the general store conducted by 

 Charles Scheetz, of Ottsville, with whom he 

 remained four years. After serving several 

 years with James Williams, at Erwinna, 

 Tinicum township, he spent one year in 

 Sunbury, another in Erwinna, and then re- 

 turned to Ottsville. In the autumn of i866' 

 he again went to Erwinna and opened a 

 general store, which he conducted success- 

 fully for sixteen years. In 1882 he was 

 forced by failing health to dispose of the 

 business and to retire for recuperation to- 

 the village of Head Quarters. His health 

 being restored, he moved to Richland Cen- 

 tre, where he opened a general merchandise 

 store of which he was the active head until ^ 

 1891, when he retired, and was succeeded 

 by Claude Treichler Rufe, his son, and: 

 Oswin Gussman, his son-in-law. Since that 

 time the store has been much enlarged. Mr. 

 Rufe has been honored by his fellow-citi- 

 zens with the office of inspector of elec- 

 tion, a position which he still holds. He has 

 served on local committees and has acted 

 as defegate to county conventions. His sup- 

 port is given to the Republican party. While 

 not a member of any church, his views are 

 broad and liberal and his principles high- 

 minded and charitable. 



Mr. Rufe married. December 3. 1862, 

 Isabel Williams, and the, following children 

 have been born to them: i. Anna, born Oc- 

 tober 16, 1864, attended the public schools 

 of Erwinna, and in 1886 became the wife of 

 Oswin Gussman, son of William and Hes- 

 ter (Moll) Gussman, of Quakertown; Mr. 

 Gussman is an Independent in politics, and 

 a member of the Reformed church ; he and 

 his wife are the parents of one daughter, 

 Gertrude, who graduated in the class of 

 1904. 2. Claude Treichler, born October 

 24, 1868, learned the trade of iron-mould- 

 ing, and subsequently entered his father's 

 store, of which he now has charge in part- 

 nership with his brother-in-law, Oswin 

 Gussman ; in politics he is a Republican ; 

 he married Alice, daughter of Charles and 

 Catharine (Apple) Shaw, of Quakertown, 

 and they were the parents of the follow- 

 ing children : Raymond, May, Anna, and 



