Tuesday, September 28, 2010

c. 1894 Cabinet Photo of Robert Cabeen Bair; York, Pennsylvania studio



Cabinet photograph taken by Swords Brothers of York, Pennsylvania, of Robert Cabeen Bair; identification on reverse.




From online research, hopefully correct:


Robert Cabeen Bair was born 27 April 1856 at York Furnace, Lower Chanceford Township, York County, Pennsylvania, the son John and Susanna (Groff) Bair.  In one reference, I saw that John Bair was a charcoal ironmaster; in another he was a judge.  Robert Cabeen Bair's paternal grandparents were John and Elizabeth (Miller) Bair.  His maternal grandparents were David and Anna (Longnecker) Groff.  


Robert Cabeen Bair was a lawyer and was the Chief of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Industrial Statistics.  I found an article he wrote on The Scotch-Irish in America.  He served as Director of the Historical Society of York County.


I also found a fascinating website on the home that he occupied after his marriage to Ella Nora Smyser, the daughter of York physician Henry Lanius Smyser.  This home is now The York Inn, in York, Pennsylvania.


Ella Nora Smyser was born 12 September 1861 in York, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Henry Lanius Smyser and his wife Emma Elizabeth (Reiman) Smyser.  Her paternal grandparents were Michael and Eliza (Lanius) Smyser.  Her maternal grandfather was Judge John Reiman.


In one reference, I found four children for Robert Cabeen Bair and his wife Ella Nora (Smyser) Bair, but I believe only one survived to adulthood, Henry Smyser Bair, born 2 April 1889.  He married Alma Quickel, and they moved in with his mother Ella in the Smyser House.   Henry Smyser Bair was the president of a gas company; he and Alma had no children.


In 1979, Alma, whose mother-in-law and husband had predeceased her, died and donated the house to the local historical society.  Later the house was purchased for use as a bed and breakfast, then as a private home, and subsequently as The York Inn. 


If you have any corrections, additions or insights regarding the information presented above, please scroll down to the comments box at the bottom of this page or contact me directly.  


A map of York, Pennsylvania:



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