James K Brobst (1855 - 1932)

Born 18 Aug 1855 in Kistler Mill, New Tripoli, Lynn Township, Lehigh, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Martha Elizabeth (Yost) Brobst — married 26 Oct 1876 in Catawissa Township, Columbia, Pennsylvania, United States

Descendants

Died 21 Jul 1932 at age 76 in Nescopeck, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States

Biography

Died 21 JUL 1932. Nescopeck, Luzerne Co, PA. Note: state archives death certificate no. 68331. ^[1]

Baptism: 7 OCT 1855. Jerusalem (Red) Church, Stony Run, Albany Tp, Berks Co, PA. ^[2]

Buried Vine Street Cemetery, Hazleton PA. Note: buried in Lot No. 1128 1/2.

Occupation: Station agent LehighValley RR, postmaster Tomhicken PA.

Religion: Lutheran?.

Note: #N2.

Census: @N555@.

Marriage Husband James K Brobst. Wife Martha Elizabeth Yost. Marriage 26 OCT 1876. Catawissa Tp, Columbia Co, PA. ^[3] Child: Pierson Tobias Brobst. Child: ‘Edie’ Edith Vernon Brobst. Child: Mary Aletha Brobst. Child: Wilbur Reuben Brobst. Child: Warren K Brobst. Child: Infant Brobst. Child Status: @C92@. Child: Infant Brobst. Child Status: @C92@. Child: Elva Caroline Brobst.

Husband Benjamin K. Brobst. Wife Carolina Mosser Kistler. Marriage 24 APR 1855. Jacob’s Union Church Cemetery, Lynn Tp, Lehigh Co, Jacksonville PA. ^[4] Child: James K Brobst. Child: Josephina K Brobst. Child: Elisabeth K Brobst. Child: Rosa K Brobst. Child: Maria Jane K “Jane” Brobst. Child: Sarah ‘Sallie’ K Brobst. Child: Amanda K Brobst. Child: Milton K Brobst. Child: Oliver K Brobst. Child: Allison K Brobst. Child: Carolina K "Carrie” Brobst. Child: George K. Brobst. Child Status: @C97@. Child: Ada Catherine K Brobst.

Notes

Note N2.

• Note that Jim BROBST and all his siblings had the middle initial K (for his mother's maiden name Kistler) without a period after it. Bapt. sponsors at the Allemaengel Church were 'James' and Catherine SCHMIDT. Guess is that this was Jacob SCHMIDT b. 26 May 1808, d. 15 May 1866, a cousin descended from Peter FRiESS and Maria BROBST. Jim was born at Kistler/Oswald Mill, corner of Allemaengel Rd (SR 4032) & Gun Club Rd (T770b) about 2 miles northwest of New Tripoli PA. His father was running the mill, the first year after marriage. (The mill was built and owned by Jim's mother's father, Christian KISTLER, and is still to be seen on Ontalaunee Creek outside New Tripoli PA.).

Jim grew up in Kistler Valley on the original farm of immigrant Johann Juerg [George] KISTLER, which came down to James's mother, Carolina Mosser KISTLER. Benjamin and Carolina BROBST first lived in the small house on north side of Kistler Road near the Jerusalem (Red) Church and the modern Kistler monument. (Small stone house right on the road, next to a long lane leading up the hill to two large stone houses and barns; the little house was occupied in 1997 by a sister of current family historian, Lloyd Kistler, she and he both being members of the Jerusalem Church.). Jim left home at age 12 or 13, worked as a storekeeper's helper (daughter Elva said he worked for an uncle; perhaps it was a cousin, the Jonathan Kistler who owned the store in what is now Stony Run PA, nearby). When old enough, Jim became a telegrapher for the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and was finally made station agent at Tomhicken PA, west of Hazleton (his wife's older brother Tobias Yost was also station agent there for 5 yrs, up to about 1880). The Tomhicken railroad station served a coal mine located just upstream on Black Creek (mine entrance now blocked; 20th century open pits filled with water). Two sons (Pierson and Warren) also worked for the same railroad and daughter Edith married a telegrapher who was posted to the Tomhickon station for a while. The Brobst family lived in quarters provided in the rear and second floor of the station. Jim was also the Tomhicken postmaster (which enabled him to read everyone's newspaper and magazines). He was a member of the Molly Maguires (fighting for miners' rights), the Masons, and the Republican Party. This is noteworthy, as most PA Dutch rural people were Democrats in the 19th C, per historian Valuska (more recent German immigrants tended to be Republican). Was Jim Brobst Republican because of his contact with railroading and mining? A photo owned by his great granddaughter Susan Brobst Zumchak, via her granddad Pierson Brobst, shows that James was about 5 inches taller than his sons, with long legs. He chewed tobacco, liked to read newspapers and magazines, sowed the garden not in rows but by broadcasting the seed, went up the hill to the village bar to have a beer with the miners, was president of the school board, bought the first crystal radio in town and assembled it, bought the first automobile in town and let daughter Elva be the main driver (she had persuaded him to buy it), had a placid but perhaps controlling temperament. James K was living with daughter Edith Riegel when he died the summer of 1932 of congestive heart failure. Death certificate #68331 shows date of death as 21 July 1932 in Nescopeck, online index available but is not alphabetic, is clustered by a system using consonants to avoid problems with spelling (!), then alphabetically by first name, so BROBST is in the BRB section; columns include code B-612-40, which may indicate page location in original state index.

Sources

Personal memory of Janet (Ramage) Binkley.

1. ↑ Source: #S3
2. ↑ Source: #S2
3. ↑ Source: #S2
4. ↑ Source: #S2

• Source: S2 Brobst, Bill, 6072 Currituck Rd, Kitty Hawk NC 27949
• Source: S3 Tombstone