Amos B. Kline

AMOS B. KLINE. The Kline family has long been prominent in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. The first of the name to settle here was John Kline, a pioneer, who came from the eastern part of this state shortly after the Revolutionary war. He was son of Peter Kline, a resident of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in the part which is now Lebanon county, but whether he was a native born or an emigrant from German is not known. 

Peter Kline enlisted as a private in the Revolutionary war, was present at Valley Forge under the command of General Washington, and afterward was assigned to the commissary department and placed in charge of foraging parties. Shortly after the cessation of hostilities he married a Miss Mace, and for several years devoted his time and attention to farming. Accompanied by his wife and family, Mr. Kline migrated westward and located in the vicinity of Grapeville, the journey being made on horseback. He made frequent trips to Philadelphia to examine titles, as he was a conveyancer as a farmer. He never returned from his last trip to the city, and was never thereafter heard of by his family. Their children were: I. John, settled in the vicinity of Adamsburg, but after his marriage to Nancy Buchman, of Hagerstown, Maryland, he purchased property in the Manor of Denmark where he thereafter resided. He reared a large family, among whom was a son John, of who later. 2. William, also settled in the vicinity of Adamsburg. 3. George, deceased. 4. Samuel, went to the southwest and was never again heard from by his friends. 5. Polly, married Peter Kemmerer, and located in Illinois. 6. Catharine, married Daniel Kemmerer, and settled in Iowa. 

John Kline, son of John and Nancy (Buchman) Kline, settled on the farm known under William Penn's patent as Landsdown, in the Denmark Manor district of Penn township. He was energetic, industrious and progressive. He was a prosperous farmer, and also owned and operated the Bouquet mills for several years. He married Elizabeth Knappenberger, daughter of John and Hanna Knappenberger, an old and early settled family in the Manor district. Their children were : Hezekiah J., died in McDonough county, Illinois, in 1869 ; Hannah, died in 1882 ; William J., A. M., M. D., a practicing physician of Greensburg since 1871 ; he was a member of the state legislature in 1877-8, and a member of the state board of medical examiners at a later date ; Nicholas L., a dentist, now located at Scottdale. Mary Ann, married David L. Snyder ; Henry, enlisted in the union army and died at Newbern, North Carolina, in 1863, age twenty-one years ; Lydia E., married Cryus J. Snyder ; Amos B., mentioned hereafter ; Rev. Alpha K., a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, and now (1905) a minister in the Reformed church ; Jacob, died in infancy. John Kline, father of these children, died in December, 1855, age forty-six years. His wife who was an energetic and intelligent woman, possessing rare tact, good judgment and christian virtues, died March 11, 1890, in the eighty-seventh year of her age. 

Amos B. Kline, son of John and Elizabeth (Knappenberger) Kline, was born near the historic village of Bouquet, Penn township, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, April 19, 1843. He received a liberal education in the common schools and academies of his native county. In September, 1862, he volunteered his services in defense of his country, becoming a member of Company c, Twenty-second Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia, which saw several weeks of service on the southern borders of the state. He served in the capacity of teacher in the public schools for several terms, discharging his duties in a highly creditable manner. During the years 1865 and 1866 he was superintendent of the Curlew and Highland Oil Companies, two organizations operating at Burning Springs, West Virginia. In order to further qualify himself for a business career he entered Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he graduated in the spring of 1867. He then embarked in the drug an grocery business at Irwin, but two years later disposed of the same and accepted a position as assistant superintendent and bookkeeper with John s. Love, of Pittsburg, who was then constructing the railroad from Hollidaysburg, Blair county. In October, 1873, he became a partner with his brother, Dr. W. J. Kline, in the publication of the Westmoreland Democrat and Republican. They enlarged the paper, change the name to the Westmoreland Democrat, and made it a live an important weekly, taking a leading part in politics and ably discussing the issues of the day. Mr. Kline took part in the editorial work, and was general manager until the fall of 1882, when they sold the paper. They then purchased a large coal field in the vicinity of Pleasant Unity, which they subsequently sold to William Thaw, of Pittsburg. They afterwards purchased three thousand acres of gas coal lands in Manor Valley, and were instrumental in the building of the Manor Valley railroad, and promoting the Manor Gas Coal Company, in which they held an interest until 1886, since which time Mr. Kline has been dealing in real estate in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties. During the year 1889 Mr. Kline and his brother, Dr. Kline, purchased several tracts of land and laid out West Wilmerding, and addition to Wilmerding, Allegheny county, on the line of the Pennsylvania railroad. Mr. Kline is an active member of the Reformed church, and during the years 1888 and 1889 contributed liberally of his time (serving as chairman of the building committee) means in the erection of the new church edifice know as Denmark Manor Reformed church, which ranks among he most handsome county churches in western Pennsylvania. He is firm in his allegiance to the principles of the Democratic party. He married, September 17, 1889, Elizabeth B. Kays, daughter of D. L. Kays, of Pittsburg. Their children are : Elizabeth, Madeline and Arthur Burnadotte. 

Source Pages 53 & 54 History of Westmoreland County, Volume II, Pennsylvania by John N. Boucher. New York, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906 
Transcribed December 31, 1999 by Marilynn Wienke for the Westmoreland County History Project
Contributed for use by the Westmoreland County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/westmoreland/)

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