My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM E. DRAWBAUGH, farmer and dairyman, of Newton township, Cumberland county, was born Nov. 3, 1855, in West Pennsboro township, a son of John and Nancy (Zeigler) Drawbaugh. The father was born in Cumberland county, a son of George and Katherine (Bloser) Drawbaugh.

After marriage the parents of William E. Drawbaugh settled in West Pennsboro township, where he became a prosperous farmer, his death occurred Oct. 7, 1882. His widow, who was a daughter of William and Margaret (Adams) Zeigler, survived him until Oct. 9, 1893. They had nine children, eight of whom lived to maturity: Ezemiah married S. W. Lehn, and died Nov. 15, 1904; Anna M. died Oct. 9, 1882; Wilson is deceased; Margaret G., the widow of Rev. M. M. Foose, resides at Lancaster; William E. is mentioned below; George A. died Nov. 6, 1882; John F. died Oct. 4, 1882; Rev. David Porter is a prominent Lutheran minister.

William E. Drawbaugh spent his boyhood on the farm and attended what is known as Smith’s schoolhouse. At the age of eighteen years his school days ended and he assisted his father on the farm until he was twenty-two. Soon after he married Miss Isabel Sharpe, eldest daughter of Andrew and Eliza (Jacobs) Sharpe. The Sharpe family is one of the pioneer families of Cumberland county, of Scotch-Irish extraction, and as proud of their honorable ancestry as of their attachment to the Presbyterian Church. Andrew Sharpe was an intelligent man and successful farmer and one of the most liberal supporters of the church in Newton township. He died on the old Sharpe homestead Nov. 13, 1865. His widow survived him until Jan. 20, 1868. The grandfather of Mrs. Drawbaugh, John Sharpe, one of the first settlers in Newton township, married Martha Huston, and died at the advanced age of eighty-two years. The great-grandfather was Robert Sharpe, who married Margaret Boyd. Both died in September, 1815. They were pioneers in the Cumberland Valley and settled in Newton township about 1740. They were active in all good works and much credit is due their religious zeal in the establishing of the Presbyterian Church in this locality.

After marriage William E. Drawbaugh settled for one year in Frankford township and then removed to Newton township, where he lived a number of years. In 1894 he moved to his present farm which is known as the old Sharpe homestead, or a part of it, containing 100 acres. He also owns an adjoining farm of seventy-seven acres, upon which are good buildings, erected many years ago. Mr. Drawbaugh has met with unusual success in the raising of wheat, of which he has made something of a specialty. His farm is well stocked with first-class hogs, cattle and horses, and he has given attention to dairying.

Mr. and Mrs. Drawbaugh have one son and one daughter, Edgar Sharpe and Nancy Zeigler; the latter was educated at the Cumberland Valley State Normal School at Shippensburg, and is now teaching. Mr. Drawbaugh and his wife are members of the United Presbyterian Church, in which he has been an elder since 1892. In politics he is a Democrat, but no office seeker. He ranks with the leading and most progressive citizens of Newton township.