BIO:  JAMES ANDREW STEESE, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
   
  Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Joe Patterson
  OCRed by Judy Banja

  Copyright 2004.  All rights reserved.
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  _____________________________________________________________

  >From Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania,
  Chicago: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905, pages 599-601
  _____________________________________________________________

  NOTE: Use this web address to access other bios:
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    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
  
    600  CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
  
  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 Pa-per 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
  
    CUMBERLAND COUNTY.  601
  
  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 Springs, 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.