In these cold months of retirement I’ve been digging into my Wolf/Wolfe ancestors. The above family picture is of my Great Great Grandfather Samuel Wolfe, his wife Ellomanda and 8 of their 9 children (they lost a child Victoria May at 5 years old). Samuel was a stone mason and also founded the Pleasant Hill Chapel in Green Point PA in 1907, probably the first Independent Bible Church in Lebanon County! Some of my ancestors don’t have the “e” on Wolfe. So I have Wolf/Wolfe relatives all over eastern PA! My brother often says “Without the “e” I’m just an animal!”
My Great Grandfather Alfred Jacob, who was their firstborn, seated on right (from whom I get my middle name) was better known as Allen Wolfe or “AJ” as most people called him. He married a wonderful woman Katherine (Kate) Klinger who he met when as a young man he travelled on horseback giving music lessons to the village of Suedburg. He later started Wolfe’s General Merchandise store in Green Point which was about a mile west of his parent’s home which still sits next to the Greenpoint Cemetery. He was a kind and loving business man who helped many people make it through the Depression by bartering store goods for home grown vegetables. He and Kate had two children, my grandfather Clarence 1899-1945 and a daughter Grace who died at only 5 months old.
Edwin Martin Luther Wolf moved to Derry Church, later renamed Hershey, and actually made icecream for Milton Hershey! After moving to York Springs he began a car dealership selling Pontiacs. Later he began transporting people to Phillies games and community events which eventually led him to start WOLF BUS LINES the friendly Wolf 
. My brother Larry Wolfe interviewd his grandsons Bradley and Edwin and they gave him a copy of the treasured family photo.
David Wolfe maried Sadie Snyder and stayed in the area and, like his father, had 7 sons of his own, Albert, Harry, Francis, Charles, Paul, David Jr & Lester. He also had 5 daughters. His nickname was “Wooly Wolfe”. His decendants still live in his father Samuel’s home in Greenpoint.
Irvin wasn’t long on the earth, never marrying and dying at the young age of 19. His grave is beside his parents in the Pleasant Hill Chapel cemetery.
Henry married a girl named Mable who was 13 years younger than him and they moved to Pine Grove. Mabel died at age 31 and left Henry (44) with two small children, Sallie,8 & William,7. He remained unmarried and passed away 17 years later. He & Mable are buried at Jacob’s Lutheran Church in Pine Grove.
Charles married Emma Shakespeare and followed in his older brother Alfred’s footsteps when he started a general store in the west end of Hummlestown.
Samuel remained a bachelor all of his life and lived at home in his parents house until his death in 1961. He worked at his brother’s store until it closed in 1956 at AJ’s death.
Annie married John Reigle and named her firstborn daughter Victoria May, after her little sister who passed away at 5 years old when Annie was only eleven. They probably had a close relationship. It appears she raised her family in the Annville Cleona area.
I’m very thankful for the Christian heritage evident in the lives of my ancestors as they enjoyed the freedoms and opportunities in our great country. They all had roots in their local churches and their values of Faith in God and hard work led them to become valueable contributors to their communities. Maybe this post will get the attention of my many unknown Wolf/Wolfe relatives in our community!
Note: I gathered much of this information from an article my brother Larry wrote called “The Seven Sons of Samuel” after visiting Edwin’s grandsons of the Wolf Bus Lines. Larry is now in heaven and I’m sure is celebrating with his ancestors.
For more encouraging stories see below:
lobochronicles 