Moses Specht and Rachel Bingaman

---

---

Husband Moses Specht ¹

---

           Born: 4 Mar 1818 - Beavertown, Snyder Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: 2 Nov 1895 1
         Buried: 

---

         Father: Adam Specht (Abt 1784-1872) 1
         Mother: Catherine Smith (Abt 1788-1870) 1

---

       Marriage: 

---

---

Wife Rachel Bingaman ¹

---

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 28 Jun 1894 1
         Buried: 

---

Children

---

1 M Arthur B. Specht ²

---

           Born: 19 Sep 1845 - Beavertown, Snyder Co, PA 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Amanda Moyer (      -      ) 3
           Marr: 1865 3

---

2 F Louisa Specht ³

---

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

---

3 M Horace Specht ³

---

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1898
         Buried: 

---

---

General Notes: Husband - Moses Specht

---

He was practically a self-educated man, as he only attended a subscription school for three terms of three months each, and his teachers were but illy qualified to instruct him, even in the elementary lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic, to which his course was limited. Through private study he gained a fair education, becoming especially skilled as an accountant. Early in life he learned the gunsmith's trade, and for some time he followed it successfully. In 1845 he built a hotel at Beavertown, which he conducted many years, enlarging it as his constantly increasing business demanded. In 1847 he engaged in mercantile business, and in time he had one of the largest stores in the county, his trade extending over a wide territory. The steam tannery, which is now the leading concern at Beavertown, owed its establishment mainly to his foresight and energy. He was one of the principal promoters of the Sunbury & Lewistown railroad, serving as a director during the constructive period. He secured subscriptions for the enterprise to the amount of $30,000, and then collected and paid the entire sum into the treasury, and he also obtained the gratuitous right of way for eighteen miles of the road, with unincumbered titles to the lands for the location of stations at McClure, Adamsburg, Beavertown, Paxtonville, Middleburg and Kreamer, devoting a whole summer to the work without compensation. In 1879 he took a contract for two miles of the hardest grading on the section then being constructed, and did the work at a cost of $11,000, putting fifty-eight thousand loads of dirt into one "filling." In addition to all these enterprises, he built a number of houses on contract. In 1850 he built the Lutheran and Reformed Church at Beavertown, the first church edifices in the place, and in 1880 he built the large brick school house there, the directors adopting many improvements in the original plan in accordance with his suggestions. For many years he held the position of express agent at Beavertown, and he was also engaged in the foundry business, and in lumbering, operating a sawmill near his town. Throughout his career he seems to have followed the Biblical injunction, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might," his industry and sound judgment being apparently equal to any task. As may be supposed, he was frequently called to serve the community in official positions, and when barely twenty-one years old he was elected constable of old Beaver township, which then consisted of the present [1898] townships of Beaver, West Beaver, Spring and Adams. In 1845 he was elected justice of the peace, but he resigned before the expiration of his term. For one term he served as county auditor, and for more than forty years he was one of the auditors of his township, his close scrutiny of the accounts at each annual settlement permitting no suspicious items to pass unchallenged. In 1861, Gov. Curtin appointed him to fill the office of sheriff of Snyder County in the place of Frederick Bause, deceased, and, at the expiration of the term in the fall of 1862, he was elected to the same position, his service proving most satisfactory to the people. His kindly heart led him to use every effort to save the property of those against whom he held executions, yet he never faltered in the performance of any necessary official act. In 1840 he was appointed postmaster at Beavertown, a position which he held almost continuously for more than forty years, serving under every administration except one, during that time.
The funeral of this honored citizen was attended by a large concourse of people, many of whom came from a distance to pay their last tribute of respect. Although he had reached the advanced age of seventy-eight, and had for some time been living in retirement, his sudden death as the result of an apopleptic stroke caused a shock to the community where he had so long been a familiar figure. One who knew him well has said, "We have always found him a courteous and affable friend, a safe and judicious counsellor, who ever had a word of kindly advice in season," and few men have been more deeply missed and mourned than is Moses Specht. [CBRCP-CCUS, 1131]

1 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 1131.

2 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 1130.

3 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 1132.