Harrison Riegle, farmer and stockman, was born in Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 15 November 1840.
Daniel Riegle I, the grandfather of Harrison Riegle, was a native of Berks County, Pennsylvania, of German descent, and a farmer. He and his wife died in Lykens Township. Both were members of the Reformed church. He was an old line Whig.
Daniel Riegle II, the father of Harrison Riegle, owned and cultivated a farm of fifty acres in Lykens Township, which he greatly improved, and occupied it until 1850. He then sold this farm and purchased the mill property belonging to the Hoover estate, now the property of Daniel Buffington, on which he resided until 1855. He then removed to Gratz, where he died in June of the same year. He served one term as county commissioner of Dauphin County, and also one term as director of the poor of the same county. He was once a candidate for the office of sheriff, but was defeated. He was married in Lykens Township to Catherine Hoffman, a native of that township, who died there in 1864. Their children were:
Eliza Riegle, deceased, wife of Elias Etzweiler, Jackson Township;
Josiah R. Riegle, deceased;
Jonas P. Riegle, deceased; and
Harrison Riegle.
Harrison Riegle attended the public schools for only a few terms during winter months. He began early to help his father in farm work and remained with him until his sixteenth year. At the age of seventeen he began working as a laborer in the mines. At the end of a year he became a miner, and was so employed until 1865. He enlisted [Civil War] at Harrisburg, 10 March 1865, in company G, One Hundred and Third regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers [103rd Pennsylvania Infantry, for one year. He was sent by the way of Baltimore to Fortress Monroe, thence to Norfolk and Roanoke Island, and was on guard duty for four months. He was mustered out of service 14 July 1865 at Palmer, North Carolina, and returned to Harrisburg, where he received his discharge. After this he continued in the employment of the Lykens Valley Coal Company, as a miner until 1886, when he relinquished mining and bought a farm in Specktown, Lykens Township, containing forty acres cleared land and thirty-seven acres woodland, which he has since been engaged in improving and tilling.
Harrison Riegle was married in Lykens Township in 1867 to Hannah L. Rickert, born in that township in May 1849 and a daughter of Martin Rickert, farmer. Their children were:
Chauncey A. Riegle, miner;
Lizzie C. Riegle;
Edward A. Riegle, school teacher;
Charles G. Riegle, miner;
Bertha Riegle;
Mabel Riegle;
Norman Riegle; and
Seven who died in infancy.
Mr. Harrison Riegle is a Republican and has been for three years a school director, and takes an active part in township affairs. At twenty-one years of age he joined the Gratz Lodge, I.O.O.F., and still holds his membership in that fraternity. He is also connected with the Knights of Pythias, with the Lykens Lodge of S.P.K., and with Kissinger Post, No. 376, G.A.R., at Gratz. Mr. Riegle is a member of the Reformed Church.
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The above information was modified/edited from Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, published in 1896 by J. M. Runk and Company of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. A free download is available from the Internet Archive.
Harrison Riegle died on 31 July 1899. He is buried at the Gratz Union Cemetery, Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. Hannah [Rickert] Riegle died on 11 July 1919. She is buried at the same place.
See also:
http://civilwar.gratzpa.org/2012/09/the-2nd-company-g-of-the-103rd-pennsylvania-infantry/
Children of Daniel Riegle, Dauphin County Commissioner (Part 1 of 2)
Children of Daniel Riegle, Dauphin County Commissioner (Part 2 of 2)