Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

This week would be the 236th birthday of Philip Krebs! He doesn’t much care, as he’s been dead since the Civil War, but it’s nice to mark the anniversary. And chances are, you’re not familiar with Philip Krebs yourself. But you should be—Because he was largely responsible for the government of Clinton County as we know it.

Philip Krebs was born in Montgomery County on December 7th, 1789. He wound up moving to Lycoming County as an adult, when Lycoming County was a lot bigger and covered about half the state. There, he became the local prothonotary, which set a trend that Krebs never entirely recovered from.

Clinton County was founded on June 21, 1839, by taking part of Lycoming and part of Centre. So, in a way, Krebs already had some experience at governing here. The courthouse, initially, was tavern—The new county government rented out Barker’s Tavern on Water Street for all county operations. They had two offices on the second floor, one for the commissioners, and one for other offices. Philip Krebs was overwhelmingly elected prothonotary, and to avoid crowding the upstairs office, they made him the clerk of courts and register and recorder, too.

(During Clinton County’s 175th anniversary in 2014, a lot of us got to play the part of historic people from the community. I got to be Jerry Church. Everyone asked me who the first person to hold their office was, and for several offices, it was Krebs. “Philip Krebs. Philip Krebs. Yep, that one was Krebs, too.” We wound up with about twelve Philip Krebses running around.)

“Upon the formation of this county he was elected Prothonotary, Register, Recorder, and Clerk of the several courts, and in later years he was again elected Register and Recorder,” his obit in the Clinton Democrat stated. In 1849, Krebs became Register and Recorder again when he took over for the previous office holder, Jonathon Wagner. Then in 1852, Krebs ran for the office again, and won, serving two more years.

Krebs also ran for Justice of the Peace, and won, because he hadn’t added enough to his resume yet. And during all this, he kept a job as a bank cashier. Krebs was simply one of those guys who liked to participate and stay busy.

“He was for several years Cashier of the Lock Haven Bank,” the obit stated,”From which position he voluntarily retired last fall in consequence of failing health. He discharged the duties of all these positions with marked ability and fidelity, and at all times enjoyed the confidence and respect of those who knew him.”

Philip Krebs died on June 25, 1861. It was just past the twenty-second anniversary of the founding of Clinton County, the county he’d loved and served. He was buried in Highland Cemetery. His obit referred to him as “One of the most respectable citizens of Clinton County.”

On my tours, I’ve made a joke in the past that Philip Krebs was pretty much our entire government in the old days, but it’s a joke with a whole lot of truth to it. In those early days, Philip Krebs was that rarest of things—A man who only wanted to serve his community. A good man. For his birthday, I wanted to remember him. And if anyone should happen to ask you who held any one specific office in the early days of Clinton County, just tell them it was Philip Krebs. There’s at least a seventy percent chance you’ll be right.